Amy Littlesugar

Goodreads Review:
Jolie has a lot to be scared about since the new Freedom School teacher, Annie, came to town. Bricks thrown through windows in the dead of night, notes filled with hate, and now a fire has burnt down the church where Annie was supposed to start teaching tomorrow! Without the church, how can she possibly teach Jolie and the other townspeople about black poets and artists, historians and inventors? Unless the people themselves fight back.In this triumphant story based on the 1964 Mississippi Freedom School Summer Project, Amy Littlesugar and Floyd Cooper come together to celebrate the strength of a people, and the bravery of one young girl who didn't let being scared get in her way.… (mais)

Willy and Max meet as young boys when Max, a young Jewish boy, and his father enter Willy's father's antique shop. Max's father expresses interest in a painting called "The Lady" that he saw in the shop's window. Willy and Max promise to be friends forever, but Max and his father leave Belgium during the night to escape the invasion of the Nazis. They entrust Willy and his father in keeping the painting for them while they are away. Sixty years pass, and Willy finds out that Max has recently passed away, but through this painting and family, the two boys are bonded forever.

I very much enjoyed the theme of friendship and family in this story. The story of love and family here is priceless. This story made me feel so good in the end since something precious came out of a horrible situation. Another thing I enjoyed was seeing the ritual of erev Shabbos being practiced with the grandchildren and the joy that comes with being around family. Students can learn about the importance of family, friendship, and hope by reading this story of two boys during the Holocaust.… (mais)

This is a unique holocaust story with two families, one Jewish and one gentile. While it is the story of friendships and connections lost over the course of the war it is also a historical story about the preservation of art. Max and Willy form a close friendship, but they also watch their home irrevocably change before their eyes when the Nazi's invade. The book jumps from the round-up of the Jews to present day, leaving much in between unexplained. I enjoyed this technique. So much is lost and will remain unexplained so if you sit back and consider the absence of any information it is a good approach to make the reader reflect on what's been lost.… (mais)