Someone Named Eva

by Joan M. Wolf

Book Overview

A gripping tale of one girl's struggle against the Nazis.

"Remember who you are, Milada." Milada's grandmother says these words on the night the Nazi soldiers come to their home in Czechoslovakia. But what do they mean? She is Milada, who lives with her mama and papa, her brother and sister, and her beloved Babichka. Milada with the sun-kissed hair, eleven years old, fastest runner in her school. How could she ever forget?
Then the Nazis...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0547237669
• ISBN13: 9780547237664
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 10 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 7

Customer Reviews

Great book and lebensborn child

This book is an example of what the lebensborn project did and it’s hard to find books with this information about world war 2 and it’s put into a way kids can understand

*We're not talking "enjoyable" here - because humans seem incapable of learning from History*

A child in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, Milada received a prized telescope for her eleventh birthday although no gift was expected. Her father instructed his daughter to always look for the North Star to find her way. It was a time of shortages & ration cards and being fearfully hemmed in by soldiers who demanded Nazi salutes, and yanked families apart in the night. Milada was not a Jew but in a contrary way was DISadvantaged by her blond, Aryan appearance for which she was chosen by the Nazis to be schooled in the German language & customs. Only then was she deemed suitable for adoption into a Nazi family. German mothers 'earned points' and gained prestige in Hitler's regime by increasing their families. Her new "mutter" and siblings gave her desperately needed affection which caused a literal tug-of-war with emotions because "Milada/Eva" realized the same woman is wife to the commandant of the feared adjacent 'death camp' from which come pervasive crematorium odors. This issue is not dealt with 'head on' but is no more ambiguous than some issues which make adolescence so difficult in contemporary society. Life always means confronting hard choices, doesn't it? And readers in middle grades may find it helpful to read about 'someone named Eva' who hung on to life for Freedom's sake. Readers can ask whether Milada/Eva was in the end better off, because she survived the war whereas her closest Czech friend, Terezie did not; also, four out of five of her own family members were sent to work camps and did not survive. We can be grateful to Joan M. Wolf for enlightening us about these hidden aspects of war. If today's students read about a child damaged psychologically by incessant brain-washing who forgets her true birth name for a time, perhaps they will better stand up to the societal pressures which contend that today's conflicts can be solved only by going to war. From the time Milada was taken from her family in Lidice, she felt protected by her grandmother's garnet star pin which she wore hidden in her clothing at all times. It became a talisman along with her beloved Babichka's words: "Remember who you are. Always." Reviewer McHaiku strongly suggests that families read this book & discuss it together. Each of us needs to learn the importance of retaining identity and purpose.

Try to remember and if you remember then follow

Don't blink or you'll miss it. The arrival of a noteworthy work of historical fiction for kids tends to work one of two ways. Either the marketing machine behind the book hits bookstores and libraries full-force, cramming said book down everyone's throats until they yield and make it a bestseller/award winner... or nothing happens at all. The book slips onto shelves without so much as a squeak, never insisting that anyone go out of their way to find it. "Someone Named Eva" belongs firmly in the latter camp. It's small and subtle and extraordinarily good. The kind of WWII children's fiction other authors should look to emulate, given the chance. Eleven-year-old Milada remembers the night. The night when there was pounding on the door and Nazis in her Czechoslovakian home. The night when her grandmother pressed a garnet pin into her hand and told her to never forget who she was. But since that time Milada had a difficult time keeping that promise. Having been forcibly removed from her family and taken to a bizarre Nazi-run girl's school, Milada quickly learns the reason for her presence in the Lebensborn center; her shiny golden hair and bright blue eyes. Renamed Eva, Milada is part of a system intent upon turning her into a "good" German citizen. The kind of place where she can be taught the evils of the Jews, the glory of Hitler, and the joys of being adopted into a real German family's home. Based on events following the destruction of Lidice, Czechoslovakia, author Joan Wolf tells of the real Lebensborn center in Poland, the crimes it committed against an untold number of girls during WWII, and what it takes to stay true to your heritage. Did you notice something? Read the summary again. That's right. We're dealing with a WWII children's book that doesn't focus primarily on Jewish children. Not that there's anything wrong with more Holocaust novels, of course. They're often quite stunning. Just the same, there are an awful lot of them out there. So much so, in fact, that when I picked up this book and looked at the cover I decided on the plot immediately. Something along the lines of, "Ah. Here is a book about a blond Jewish child who passes as Christian so that she won't be sent to the concentration camps with her family." I was more than a little shocked when I sat down to read and found that my smug summary was way off base. In fact, my surprise didn't end there. Again and again, Wolf was able to give me facts from the time period that I had never ever encountered before. These included the fact that German women were awarded the "Mother's Cross" when they increased the number of children in their home. Who knew? Also, as someone who was more than a little peeved at how The Boy in the Striped Pajamas chose to ignore the fact that living outside a concentration camp meant dealing with a constant, pervasive, horrible smell, I appreciated that Wolf makes it practically the first thing Milada notices when she moves

A compelling and chilling story

I read Someone Named Eva with my eleven year old daughter. She finished it first and couldn't wait for me to reach the end because she wanted someone to discuss it with. It is a book that you will want to discuss. Eva is taken from her family, and forced to become a perfect Aryan girl who must salute Hitler and condemn Jews and others that do not fit the Nazi mold of perfection. Throughout her ordeal, she remembers her family and her true self, sometime just barely, but she holds on to it. The book reveals just how hard it is to stay true to yourself and your loved ones when your home, your language, and your values are stripped away. Eva was chosen because she had the "correct measurements, " and was blue eyed and blond. How arbitrary our ways of judging people are from the outside in instead of the inside out is one of the themes in the book my daughter and I discussed. The story is beautifully told. Eva's understanding of the stars and the constellations acts as a sort of outer tapestry that holds the story together; from time to time she remembers learning about the stars from her loving grandmother, and in doing that, she remembers who she really and truly is.

Someone Named Eva

Milada, a gentile girl living in Czechoslovakia in 1942, is turning eleven on her next birthday. When the Nazi's converge upon her town, she is separated from her family and taken to a Lebensborn center in Poland for girls who have been deemed candidates to become perfect Aryans. Milada, who is not Jewish, resents her blond hair and blue eyes, knowing these are the reason she is chosen. Upon reaching the Nazi center, Milada's name is changed to "Eva" and she and the other girls are forced to speak German. During her stay at the center, "Eva" makes a friend, but also sees girls who fall under the spell of the Nazi brainwashing. She must summon all of her emotional strength to remember her real name and family. "Eva" secretly wears a pin given to her by her Grandmother with the warning "Remember who you are. Always." This book shows an aspect of the Nazi regime that is not commonly portrayed in children's literature. It is a chilling account of the psychological control the Nazi's had over their youngest victims. Milada has never met a Jewish person, so the Jewish content is limited to sympathetic references to the impact of the Nazi regime on the Jewish community. Someone Named Eva reveals evil through the innocence of a child's eyes. This is not a Jewish Holocaust story, but would make a formidable addition to any Holocaust collection. For ages 10 and up.

A Must Read about a little known event!

Like the Diary of Anne Frank and Number the Stars, the book is about events of the Holocaust. What makes it different from the two mentioned is that it's about a chapter of the Holocaust that is not widely known - the destruction of the town of Lidice. This was a small village that Hitler tried to literally wipe off the map. Wolf's book takes you there through the eyes of Milada, a little girl taken from her Czech family and "adopted" into a Nazi family. I couldn't put the book down, and the story left me wanting to learn more about the Lebensborn program and the families of Lidice. Though written for a young audience (the heavy subject matter is handled gently but by no means "fluffy")it's must read for anyone - adults included - wanting to know more about the Holocaust.