Stolen Girl

by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Book Overview

A companion to Making Bombs for Hitler and The War Below, this novel follows a Ukrainian girl who was kidnapped as a child to be raised by a Nazi family.

Nadia is haunted by World War II. Her memories of the war are messy, coming back to her in pieces and flashes she can't control. Though her adoptive mother says they are safe now, Nadia's flashbacks keep coming.Sometimes she remembers running, hunger, and isolation. But other...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1338233041
• ISBN13: 9781338233049
• Release Date: February 2019
• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Dealing with life after world war ll

The story line of this book is centered around the life of a young girl, who has managed to live through and escape the horrors of world war ll, with a women she has spent time with in the Displaced persons Camp.Marusia is the person who protects her, calms her, and through her and her husband, gives her a New life in Canada. Together as best they could, the husband and wife, who love Nadia dearly as if she is their own, try to help her piece together the nightmares and memories that come back to her at different times in the story. From smelling a certain soup, to seeing someone dressed a certain way, to just being jolted out of a sound sleep with scary terrible dreams, that leave her in absolute tears, because she knows somewhere, somehow, they all have a meaning leading back to WHO she really is. In the beginning she has a hard time fitting into school with the other children, though she has worked hard to learn English, her accent is still there, and she gets teased by classroom bullies who call her " Nazi Girl" .Through out the book. Nadia starts remembering more and more, and with each memory you feel, and can just imagine, her personal terror as the puzzle of who she really is starts to tumble into place. Who her real parents are, How they were taken away, how her and a little older sister were living with their Baba ( Grandma) and her and the sister were ripped out of the grandmother's arms, to be taken by the Nazi's to be put in a program "The Lebensborn Program" where they were to become and create a perfect "Aryan" race. The story is more tender, than the torturous ones involving Crazy Hitler, it will keep you involved, and because it's short... is an easy read.The author writes very nicely..captivates you in different scenarios of the young girls life, and also has put an Author's note at the end of the story. describing the ACTUAL programs Hitler created, and how families were torn apart, children stolen, and brain washed into believing into thinking they were Germans, and that their real parents were, spies, liars, or dead. They were able to accomplish this ..as the children they took were often so young ( under the age of 8) they were scared, alone, treated badly till they accomplished what they set out to do. IT goes on to describe how at the end of the war, many children couldn't be traced to who they were before, being taken, as the Germans destroyed records, and in some cases children that could BE reunited with real parents, were so brainwashed they actually feared their real parents!! So heart breakingly sad ! This is my first read by this author, but would definitely read her other stories, her writing is easy and flows nicely keeping you involved the whole story.

Compelling

Reason for Reading: I enjoy historical fiction about WWII, especial from a child's point of view. Comments: This is an extremely compelling story about a subject which I know very little about: The Lebensborn Program. I knew such things were done but haven't really read anything about it before. The story is of Nadia, who moves to Canada with a Ukranian man and woman who are not her parents after World War II. She must call them Mother and Father, though she knows they are not, but they are kind and loving. Nadia is in somewhat of a state of shock and really doesn't remember any of her past but this book is a slow unraveling of her past as she starts to have flashes of memories from her past that are haunting and confusing, making her question whether she is a Nazi. Her new "parents" assure her she is not and encourage her to keep on remembering, which she does. At the same time, Nadia must also deal with fitting into her new country and its customs which, unfortunately, a couple of children at school make very difficult. This is a bittersweet story that brings to life an aspect of the Nazi regime that is perhaps not so well known. While not as physically horrifying as other acts the Nazis perpetrated , it is an awful "experiment" that tore families apart, and ruined the lives of hundreds of thousands of children. The book is a compelling read, and coupled with its shortness is a fast read. The book's brevity does not however affect the power of emotion contained within its pages nor the development of Nadia's character. The reader connects with Nadia as a person and feels great anguish with her as she also learns who she is and what has happened to her. The book ends with an Author's Note which includes just enough historical background to place the story within context and to pique the reader's interest in the subject. I will certainly look twice if I find another book that deals with the same topic. I had never heard of Skrypuch before but after a quick look I see she has written quite a number of historical fiction which all seem to centre around either one of the World Wars and be set in Eastern Europe. I would most definitely read other of her books. Recommended.