Young Adult Book Reviews

Genre: Historical fiction

Age Level: 14 and up

# of Pages: 211 p.

RAC Book: Yes

Moshe is a Jewish boy living in Poland with his family in 1918 when the story begins. He has very weak legs and even when they grow strong enough to stand they are crooked. Due to the brutal bullying endured by Jewish boys during this time he must learn how to fight in order to defend himself since he cannot run away. When his family relocates to Paris and circumstances begin to get better for them he begins boxing in matches for fun. He marries and has a child, but then Germany invades France and he is sent to a concentration camp. He must use his skills as a fighter in order to survive.

This Holocaust story has the unusual twist that the main character is a boxer and because of that survives many difficult situations. It is based on a real man’s story that the author met, but some of the specific conversations are fictionalized. Life in the concentration camp is described from many aspects as Moshe moves through many jobs and sees a lot of what is going on. There are many graphic and violent incidents in the camp, so students reading this should have a basic understanding of the Holocaust before reading it. It is a translated story so it doesn’t flow as well as some stories, but it is still easy to understand and accurately depicts the story this author felt needed to be told. A good Holocaust story.