I wasn't too sure about this book because I usually really dislike books about the Holocaust. I just can't take the human torture, it's too much for me. I happen to currently be rereading The Diary of Young Girl by Anne Frank as well, getting ready for a WWII unit I'm doing with my kids and I had ordered this book based solely on the number of stars it received on Amazon, and that it was by Jodi Picoult. I've read a couple of her books and like them and since this one had gotten such good reviews I ordered it without even reading the summary to find out what the book was about. To my surprise (and a little disappointment) it was about WWII. I started it and it was ok, but then it got good. REALLY good. It ended up being one of the best books I've ever read. Yes, it is sad and it did make me cry, but it was so worth it.
The book starts out with Sage, a young girl in modern times. She works at a bakery and she has her own secrets, she has scars on her face and tries to hide from the world. She befriends an elderly gentleman, Josef, and it turns out he has secrets of his own. He used to be an SS officer and worked at Auschwitz. Sage is Jewish by heritage only, she is an atheist. Her own grandmother was a survivor of Auschwitz. As she gets to know Josef a little better, he asks her for a shocking favor and she also gets to hear his story of being a German SS officer during WWII. However, it is her grandmother's story that held me captivated. This is definitely a beautiful book written about the Holocaust, from two points of view and how it still affects people and their families to this day. I highly recommend it.
