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Playing for the Commandant
A young Jewish pianist at Auschwitz, desperate to save her family, is chosen to play at the camp commandant's house. How could she know she would fall in love with the wrong boy?
These are Hanna's father's parting words to her and her sister when their family is separated at the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Her father's words -- and a black C-sharp piano key hidden away in the folds of her dress -- are all that she has left to remind her of life before. Before, Hanna was going to be a famous concert pianist. She was going to wear her yellow dress to a dance. And she was going to dance with a boy. But then the Nazis came. Now it is up to Hanna to do all she can to keep her mother and sister alive, even if that means playing piano for the commandant and his guests. Staying alive isn't supposed to include falling in love with the commandant's son. But Karl Jager is beautiful, and his aloofness belies a secret. And war makes you do dangerous things.
These are Hanna's father's parting words to her and her sister when their family is separated at the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Her father's words -- and a black C-sharp piano key hidden away in the folds of her dress -- are all that she has left to remind her of life before. Before, Hanna was going to be a famous concert pianist. She was going to wear her yellow dress to a dance. And she was going to dance with a boy. But then the Nazis came. Now it is up to Hanna to do all she can to keep her mother and sister alive, even if that means playing piano for the commandant and his guests. Staying alive isn't supposed to include falling in love with the commandant's son. But Karl Jager is beautiful, and his aloofness belies a secret. And war makes you do dangerous things.
249 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2012
87 people are currently reading
3344 people want to read
About the author
Suzy Zail
21 books75 followersA Family lawyer in her past life, Suzy is now the bestselling author of more than 14 books for adults, teens and children. Suzy is best-known for her young adult novels, Inkflower, The Wrong Boy, Alexander Altmann A10567 and I am Change, stories that shine a light on injustice. She is also the founder of Give A Girl a Book, shipping more than 10,000 books (donated by school libraries and students) to girls in Africa who couldn’t otherwise afford them. Suzy's novels have won Reader's choice for Book of the Year for older readers, in the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards, been shortlisted for the Young Australians Best Book Awards and the U.K. Coventry Inspiration Book Awards and have been named an Outstanding International book by the United States Board on Books for Young People. Her books have been published in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the U.S., Canada and the U.K. and are taught in secondary school History and English. Suzy lives in Melbourne Australia.
Visit her online at suzyzail.com.au and @authorsuzyzail
Visit her online at suzyzail.com.au and @authorsuzyzail
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 348 reviews
June 4, 2020
'The wrong boy' is not a fitting title for this novel neither is the synopsis.
Yes, it’s a novel about star-crossed lover. This time it’s between a Jewish Hungarian girl and a German boy. It does seem a bit wrong in a way as if the holocaust was a tragedy rather than a great atrocity.
I wish the author gave a second thought about the title. It does not give the book enough justice. ‘The wrong boy' doesn’t solely revolve around the camp commander’s son. As for the historical accuracy, concerning how life was in a concentration camp in Poland, it isn’t anything you couldn’t discover by simply going on Wikipedia. I thought it satisfactorily conveyed the emotions of the characters, but of course I can’t be the judge of that. I don’t think anyone can simply understand the emotions of those unfortunate people thrown in a concentration camps in World War II.
Hanna is naïve, but she also has a strong optimistic side to her that makes her endearing. As for the love interest, Karla Jaeger, there was no denying he was also an endearing character and the way his compassion and sympathy was presented made him very likable. Although this book does give the impression of being mainly a love story, it actually very strongly focuses on Hanna’s relationship with her mother, father, and especially with her older sister.
Overall, I would recommend this, but it surely isn’t anything impressive for a historical fiction. However, it’s heart-warming or as heart-warming a book about the holocaust can be.
The story of a Jewish girl sent to Auschwitz with her family. She falls in love with the wrong boy – the German son of the camp commander.
Yes, it’s a novel about star-crossed lover. This time it’s between a Jewish Hungarian girl and a German boy. It does seem a bit wrong in a way as if the holocaust was a tragedy rather than a great atrocity.
I wish the author gave a second thought about the title. It does not give the book enough justice. ‘The wrong boy' doesn’t solely revolve around the camp commander’s son. As for the historical accuracy, concerning how life was in a concentration camp in Poland, it isn’t anything you couldn’t discover by simply going on Wikipedia. I thought it satisfactorily conveyed the emotions of the characters, but of course I can’t be the judge of that. I don’t think anyone can simply understand the emotions of those unfortunate people thrown in a concentration camps in World War II.
“Hanna Mendel liked to know what was going to happen next. She was going to be a famous concert pianist. She was going to wear her yellow dress to the dance on Saturday night.
But she didn’t plan on her street being turned into a ghetto. She didn’t plan on being rounded up and thrown in a cattle truck. She didn’t plan on spending her sixteenth birthday in Auschwitz, in a wooden barrack with two hundred other prisoners.”
Hanna is naïve, but she also has a strong optimistic side to her that makes her endearing. As for the love interest, Karla Jaeger, there was no denying he was also an endearing character and the way his compassion and sympathy was presented made him very likable. Although this book does give the impression of being mainly a love story, it actually very strongly focuses on Hanna’s relationship with her mother, father, and especially with her older sister.
Overall, I would recommend this, but it surely isn’t anything impressive for a historical fiction. However, it’s heart-warming or as heart-warming a book about the holocaust can be.
March 3, 2012
Hanna Mendel has a dream to follow in the footsteps of her musical muse, Clara Schumann, the celebrated German pianist. Hanna is only fifteen, and already her musical talents have seen her debut at the Debrecen Town Hall and play at the Goldmark Hall. By eighteen, Hanna hopes to shadow Clara and be playing to sell-out crowds in Vienna . . . then Hitler and the war came to Hungary, and everything changed.
Hanna and her family have been living in a ghetto; sectioned off with other Juden (Jews), and slowly their world began to alter. Her non-Jewish friends stopped talking to her at school. Her father, a talented watch-maker, had his business close down. The Mendel family have tried to cope in these trying times of war; Hanna, her father, mother and older sister, Erika all living day-to-day within the confines of the ghetto. These are difficult times to be Jew, but so long as the family has each other, they should be fine.
One night the ghetto is evacuated. Everyone is told to pack a bag and enough food to last three days. The Jews are being taken to a work camp.
Hanna and her family leave their apartment, their valuables and small mementos behind (save for a C-sharp black key from Hanna’s beloved piano). They will be there when they come back, when this war ends . . . But no one is prepared for the journey before them.
All the Jews are herded into cattle trains; made to stand for days on end while the train clambers along the countryside, taking them to Poland and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
At Auschwitz Hanna, Erika and their mother are separated from their father – with a flick of his cane, Josef Mengele sends healthy workers to the right, while the children, elderly and infirm are sent to the left and never seen again. . .
The women are stripped, shaved and tattooed. Hanna is now A10573, and put to work in the quarry like everyone else. But it quickly becomes apparent that the Auschwitz slogan ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (work sets you free) is a cruel taunt. Everyone works for mouldy bread and muddied water. Block leaders whip and beat the women if they so much as look at them the wrong way . . . Auschwitz is no work camp, Hanna decides, rather it is a place of death.
And then a miracle; Auschwitz commandant, Captain Jager, needs a pianist. He will be holding an audition for one girl to be his entertainment when he wines and dines guests. This is a mixed blessing – the lucky pianist will be alone in Jager’s home and able to steal scraps of food and have a respite from the back-breaking quarry work. But Jager’s last pianist lost a finger when she hit the wrong key, and to be caught stealing means a bullet to the head.
Hanna is successful and wins the audition – and it is in Jager’s house, playing for his SS officer friends, that Hanna first sees Karl, Jager’s son. What starts as contempt for the beautiful boy turns into something more, something dangerous and forbidden.
‘The Wrong Boy’ is the new young adult novel from Australian author Suzy Zail.
I first heard about Suzy Zail’s novel from Adele, of Persnickety Snark fame. Then I was told that Ms Zail had attended the same RMIT Writing & Editing course as me, and that a couple of my friends were mentioned in her ‘Acknowledgements’. So, long before I actually read the book, I was excited for all the whispers of brilliance, and because the blurb was thoroughly intriguing. And now that I have devoured the novel, I must say that all the advance praise is utterly deserved. ‘The Wrong Boy’ is a beautifully crushing read, and I hope it gets nominated for a few young adult literary awards in 2012.
From 1933 to 1945, six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust; though this is a rough estimate, since it’s impossible to precisely know the extent of the slaughter. Of the six million, it is again roughly estimated that 450,000 Hungarian Jews perished. And in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp alone, over one million Jews were murdered.
Suzy Zail’s story is somewhat inspired by her father who, she explains in her author’s note, was sent to Auschwitz when he was just thirteen-years-old. She has previously written a book about how her father survived the Holocaust, titled ‘The Tattooed Flower’, but ‘The Wrong Boy’ is a work of fiction . . . based around a tragic and dark moment in human history.
‘The Wrong Boy’ is a tough read, and so it should be. Many times I had to put the book down, unable to read through my tears. But by the last page I was ready to sell this novel on street corners – I’m already imploring friends to borrow my copy, and I intend to tell my aunt to recommend the book to her students (she is of Austrian descent, and a German language teacher at a Melbourne high school). This novel left me raw, but I’m bloody glad I read it.
Through Hanna’s eyes, Suzy Zail explores all aspects of the Holocaust. We learn of the slow unfolding before the war, when Jews were ghettoized and made to live with ‘their own kind’. Hanna speaks about the non-Jewish friends who abandoned her, the neighbours who turned a blind eye. At Auschwitz, Zail delves into the little-discussed politics within the concentration camp and barracks hierarchy. Block leaders were assigned to keep people in check – Jewish women who were also prisoners, but ranked above the rest (and often with a coloured patch on their uniforms, identifying them as murderers). When Hanna is assigned as Captain Jager’s pianist, she and her family experience derision from their barrack mates, who believe Hanna is like those women in the camp who spread their legs for the soldiers.
Throughout the novel Hanna is seemingly in two worlds – within the camp she witnesses the horrors and injustices – women picked off one by one when they don’t pass the morning fitness test, and the way that they eventually turn on one another for a scrap of bread or a dead woman’s shoes. And then she ventures into Captain Jager’s luxurious home, where she is made to play Mozart and Wagner, making herself sick as she entertains his uniformed friends;
I closed my eyes and tried to slip inside the music but I couldn’t get in. I squeezed my eyes shut but it was still there, an image flickering against the backs of my eyelids – a man with silver hair bent over a dead body, prying open lips and pulling at gold teeth. I opened my eyes and stared at keys, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t force my way in. I stared at the notes dancing across the page and felt sick.
Playing in Jager’s home means Hanna also comes into contact with his beautiful son, Karl. The boy will not meet Hanna’s eyes, and she is convinced that she disgusts him – the dirty Jew in his home. But the months pass with requiems, Chopin, Beethoven and the ‘Moonlight Sonata’ . . . and Hanna begins to see Karl in a new light, even if he is the wrong boy for her.
The romance in Zail’s novel is complex and sure to keep the reader on edge, but is really second-tier to the politics and sadness within Auschwitz. Zail writes about life in the concentration camp with striking clarity and ruthlessness; and these scenes within the camp’s walls are utterly harrowing. Because ‘The Wrong Boy’ is set in Auschwitz, Zail writes about real figures of the Holocaust and Nazi party – Josef Mengele, for example, assumes his role as the ‘Angel of Death’, the camp’s man with the cane who chose who lived and who died. Zail also touches on Mengele’s role as camp doctor, when Hanna’s hometown friends, twin girls, are hand-picked by Mengele and taken from the barracks. . .
Hanna is a brilliant heroine. Throughout the book she sways between terror, anger and profound sadness - but her determination is constant. She simply will not succumb to death in this putrid camp, and she will do anything to help her family survive with her. She is an inspiring heroine, and an utterly compelling narrator.
I don’t want to give anything away about the ending, particularly concerning who lives and dies. But I really liked that at the end, Zail touches on yet another aspect of the Holocaust – the return. Those Jewish survivors who returned to their homes across Europe, only to find they no longer existed. In the aftermath of liberation there are rumours of Jews fleeing to Palestine, where they intend to build an army. Other Jews are talking about finding solace in Australia – as far away from Europe as they can get. This is a whole other facet to the Holocaust, and just as interesting, so I fully intend to read Zail’s ‘The Tattooed Flower’ to get more insight into this aftermath.
I am fascinated by history, always have been. I remember reading ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ in year six and being crushed by the book’s epilogue, which described Anne’s death from typhus in a concentration camp. Going into high school and finally learning about the ideologies that led to The Holocaust was both interesting, and disheartening. That people can be swayed to violence and inhumanity by nothing but madness and prejudice . . . it’s sickening. Even more so when you see picture evidence of the suffering – skeletal people in rags and shaved heads, looking like ghosts as they stare out of black and white photos. And those photos of bodies piled like mountains, discarded and buried en masse. It doesn’t matter how many documentaries I watch, or history books I read – seeing photos of the concentration camps, those faces and inhuman bodies absolutely floors me. I don’t want to believe that human beings can be so cruel to one another. But we can.
The young adult genre seems to produce some wonderfully complex and important fiction books about the Holocaust; Morris Gleitzman’s ‘Once’ series, ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ by John Boyne, and of course certain nominees in the ‘Sydney Taylor Book Awards for Older Readers and Teen Readers’ (books that exemplify the highest literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience). ‘The Wrong Boy’ is vital reading, another harrowing but important fictionalized account of the darkest period of human history. I hope that Zail’s novel gets put up for a few literary awards this year. 'The Wrong Boy' is a book that, anyone who reads it will be moved, and enraged by the history and truth within its pages.
Detailed review with photos here: http://alphareader.blogspot.com.au/20...
Hanna and her family have been living in a ghetto; sectioned off with other Juden (Jews), and slowly their world began to alter. Her non-Jewish friends stopped talking to her at school. Her father, a talented watch-maker, had his business close down. The Mendel family have tried to cope in these trying times of war; Hanna, her father, mother and older sister, Erika all living day-to-day within the confines of the ghetto. These are difficult times to be Jew, but so long as the family has each other, they should be fine.
One night the ghetto is evacuated. Everyone is told to pack a bag and enough food to last three days. The Jews are being taken to a work camp.
Hanna and her family leave their apartment, their valuables and small mementos behind (save for a C-sharp black key from Hanna’s beloved piano). They will be there when they come back, when this war ends . . . But no one is prepared for the journey before them.
All the Jews are herded into cattle trains; made to stand for days on end while the train clambers along the countryside, taking them to Poland and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
At Auschwitz Hanna, Erika and their mother are separated from their father – with a flick of his cane, Josef Mengele sends healthy workers to the right, while the children, elderly and infirm are sent to the left and never seen again. . .
The women are stripped, shaved and tattooed. Hanna is now A10573, and put to work in the quarry like everyone else. But it quickly becomes apparent that the Auschwitz slogan ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (work sets you free) is a cruel taunt. Everyone works for mouldy bread and muddied water. Block leaders whip and beat the women if they so much as look at them the wrong way . . . Auschwitz is no work camp, Hanna decides, rather it is a place of death.
And then a miracle; Auschwitz commandant, Captain Jager, needs a pianist. He will be holding an audition for one girl to be his entertainment when he wines and dines guests. This is a mixed blessing – the lucky pianist will be alone in Jager’s home and able to steal scraps of food and have a respite from the back-breaking quarry work. But Jager’s last pianist lost a finger when she hit the wrong key, and to be caught stealing means a bullet to the head.
Hanna is successful and wins the audition – and it is in Jager’s house, playing for his SS officer friends, that Hanna first sees Karl, Jager’s son. What starts as contempt for the beautiful boy turns into something more, something dangerous and forbidden.
‘The Wrong Boy’ is the new young adult novel from Australian author Suzy Zail.
I first heard about Suzy Zail’s novel from Adele, of Persnickety Snark fame. Then I was told that Ms Zail had attended the same RMIT Writing & Editing course as me, and that a couple of my friends were mentioned in her ‘Acknowledgements’. So, long before I actually read the book, I was excited for all the whispers of brilliance, and because the blurb was thoroughly intriguing. And now that I have devoured the novel, I must say that all the advance praise is utterly deserved. ‘The Wrong Boy’ is a beautifully crushing read, and I hope it gets nominated for a few young adult literary awards in 2012.
From 1933 to 1945, six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust; though this is a rough estimate, since it’s impossible to precisely know the extent of the slaughter. Of the six million, it is again roughly estimated that 450,000 Hungarian Jews perished. And in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp alone, over one million Jews were murdered.
Suzy Zail’s story is somewhat inspired by her father who, she explains in her author’s note, was sent to Auschwitz when he was just thirteen-years-old. She has previously written a book about how her father survived the Holocaust, titled ‘The Tattooed Flower’, but ‘The Wrong Boy’ is a work of fiction . . . based around a tragic and dark moment in human history.
‘The Wrong Boy’ is a tough read, and so it should be. Many times I had to put the book down, unable to read through my tears. But by the last page I was ready to sell this novel on street corners – I’m already imploring friends to borrow my copy, and I intend to tell my aunt to recommend the book to her students (she is of Austrian descent, and a German language teacher at a Melbourne high school). This novel left me raw, but I’m bloody glad I read it.
Through Hanna’s eyes, Suzy Zail explores all aspects of the Holocaust. We learn of the slow unfolding before the war, when Jews were ghettoized and made to live with ‘their own kind’. Hanna speaks about the non-Jewish friends who abandoned her, the neighbours who turned a blind eye. At Auschwitz, Zail delves into the little-discussed politics within the concentration camp and barracks hierarchy. Block leaders were assigned to keep people in check – Jewish women who were also prisoners, but ranked above the rest (and often with a coloured patch on their uniforms, identifying them as murderers). When Hanna is assigned as Captain Jager’s pianist, she and her family experience derision from their barrack mates, who believe Hanna is like those women in the camp who spread their legs for the soldiers.
Throughout the novel Hanna is seemingly in two worlds – within the camp she witnesses the horrors and injustices – women picked off one by one when they don’t pass the morning fitness test, and the way that they eventually turn on one another for a scrap of bread or a dead woman’s shoes. And then she ventures into Captain Jager’s luxurious home, where she is made to play Mozart and Wagner, making herself sick as she entertains his uniformed friends;
I closed my eyes and tried to slip inside the music but I couldn’t get in. I squeezed my eyes shut but it was still there, an image flickering against the backs of my eyelids – a man with silver hair bent over a dead body, prying open lips and pulling at gold teeth. I opened my eyes and stared at keys, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t force my way in. I stared at the notes dancing across the page and felt sick.
Playing in Jager’s home means Hanna also comes into contact with his beautiful son, Karl. The boy will not meet Hanna’s eyes, and she is convinced that she disgusts him – the dirty Jew in his home. But the months pass with requiems, Chopin, Beethoven and the ‘Moonlight Sonata’ . . . and Hanna begins to see Karl in a new light, even if he is the wrong boy for her.
The romance in Zail’s novel is complex and sure to keep the reader on edge, but is really second-tier to the politics and sadness within Auschwitz. Zail writes about life in the concentration camp with striking clarity and ruthlessness; and these scenes within the camp’s walls are utterly harrowing. Because ‘The Wrong Boy’ is set in Auschwitz, Zail writes about real figures of the Holocaust and Nazi party – Josef Mengele, for example, assumes his role as the ‘Angel of Death’, the camp’s man with the cane who chose who lived and who died. Zail also touches on Mengele’s role as camp doctor, when Hanna’s hometown friends, twin girls, are hand-picked by Mengele and taken from the barracks. . .
Hanna is a brilliant heroine. Throughout the book she sways between terror, anger and profound sadness - but her determination is constant. She simply will not succumb to death in this putrid camp, and she will do anything to help her family survive with her. She is an inspiring heroine, and an utterly compelling narrator.
I don’t want to give anything away about the ending, particularly concerning who lives and dies. But I really liked that at the end, Zail touches on yet another aspect of the Holocaust – the return. Those Jewish survivors who returned to their homes across Europe, only to find they no longer existed. In the aftermath of liberation there are rumours of Jews fleeing to Palestine, where they intend to build an army. Other Jews are talking about finding solace in Australia – as far away from Europe as they can get. This is a whole other facet to the Holocaust, and just as interesting, so I fully intend to read Zail’s ‘The Tattooed Flower’ to get more insight into this aftermath.
I am fascinated by history, always have been. I remember reading ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ in year six and being crushed by the book’s epilogue, which described Anne’s death from typhus in a concentration camp. Going into high school and finally learning about the ideologies that led to The Holocaust was both interesting, and disheartening. That people can be swayed to violence and inhumanity by nothing but madness and prejudice . . . it’s sickening. Even more so when you see picture evidence of the suffering – skeletal people in rags and shaved heads, looking like ghosts as they stare out of black and white photos. And those photos of bodies piled like mountains, discarded and buried en masse. It doesn’t matter how many documentaries I watch, or history books I read – seeing photos of the concentration camps, those faces and inhuman bodies absolutely floors me. I don’t want to believe that human beings can be so cruel to one another. But we can.
The young adult genre seems to produce some wonderfully complex and important fiction books about the Holocaust; Morris Gleitzman’s ‘Once’ series, ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ by John Boyne, and of course certain nominees in the ‘Sydney Taylor Book Awards for Older Readers and Teen Readers’ (books that exemplify the highest literary standards while authentically portraying the Jewish experience). ‘The Wrong Boy’ is vital reading, another harrowing but important fictionalized account of the darkest period of human history. I hope that Zail’s novel gets put up for a few literary awards this year. 'The Wrong Boy' is a book that, anyone who reads it will be moved, and enraged by the history and truth within its pages.
Detailed review with photos here: http://alphareader.blogspot.com.au/20...
May 4, 2017
Can I just start with saying this book deserves so many more stars than 5, Seriously. If you want to read a world war 2 story, I would highly recommend you this book. This book has a place in my heart and I want to reread this book already!
You follow the story of Hanna who plays the piano, I play the piano as well so that was already a good start for me. This book was full of emotions. Angry, sadness, happyness, revenge, hurt, scared, optimistic, pessimistic. Every emotion a person can feel is present and also the lack of feelings a person can have you find in this book. It was hard and beautiful at the same time.
I loved the relationships growth so much, between Hanna and her sister, Hanna and the Barrack leader, Hanna and Karl, Hanna and Vera, Hanna and her parents. How these relations changed through the story was magnificent if you ask me.
And that ending omg that ending. That was a terrible but ending, although it couldn't have had a better ending at the same time. What better way to finish this review by saying one thing: C sharp.
You follow the story of Hanna who plays the piano, I play the piano as well so that was already a good start for me. This book was full of emotions. Angry, sadness, happyness, revenge, hurt, scared, optimistic, pessimistic. Every emotion a person can feel is present and also the lack of feelings a person can have you find in this book. It was hard and beautiful at the same time.
I loved the relationships growth so much, between Hanna and her sister, Hanna and the Barrack leader, Hanna and Karl, Hanna and Vera, Hanna and her parents. How these relations changed through the story was magnificent if you ask me.
And that ending omg that ending. That was a terrible but ending, although it couldn't have had a better ending at the same time. What better way to finish this review by saying one thing: C sharp.
February 20, 2024
Nu prea mi-a plăcut finalul pentru ca nu a specificat ce sa întâmplat cu Karl. Dar a fost o lectura drăguță.
April 19, 2022
I wanted to like this book so badly, but I just couldn't. It was supposed to be a story about how a Jewish girl falls in love for the wrong boy, the German son of the camp commander.
Hanna, a fifteen years old Jewish girl who loves more than anything else to play the piano, is sent, along with her family, to Auschwitz.
When they first arrived there, they have been separated from their father and as her mom slowly goes insane, Hanna turns to her older sister Erika, for support. They need each other to survive. To keep on hoping. Erika might as well be the only reason why Hanna keeps holding on. Erika, with her passion for photography, with her fighting spirit, is a strong young woman seeking for freedom. When she first got into Auschwitz, she was the strongest one in the family. The one still standing, not losing hope. She was the strong one, the wild one. The one who was more angry than afraid. However, slowly the anger started to abandon her. Fear started to get to her. Therefore, Hanna is now trying to be the strong one. With her blind optimism, she’s trying to give back to her sister the hope she has lost.
One day Hanna is asked to start working for the commander of the camp thanks to her greatest passion: music.
In fact, she starts playing the piano for him. She hates to work for the people that ruined her life and everybody else's in the camp but thanks to this new job, she has more food to share with her sister and warm clothes to get through winter with. She makes new friends and new enemies.
Thanks to her new job, she also gets the chance to meet Karl, the camp commander’s son.
At first, she thinks he hates her, she thinks that he’s no better than his father.
But then they get the chance to spend more time together and she starts to realize that she was wrong. That Karl was nothing like his father. And, even though she knows she shouldn’t, she knows it’s wrong, she slowly starts to fall for the wrong boy.
I was hoping for a desperate-passionate heart-breaking forbidden love story but even though there were all the elements, it just seemed too shallow to me. I found the book too plain, stereotyped especially the love story. I wanted more. I wanted to know more about Erika, I wanted to know more about Karl. I wanted more details. More romance. A breath-taking love story. Not love-at-first-sight.
Hanna, a fifteen years old Jewish girl who loves more than anything else to play the piano, is sent, along with her family, to Auschwitz.
When they first arrived there, they have been separated from their father and as her mom slowly goes insane, Hanna turns to her older sister Erika, for support. They need each other to survive. To keep on hoping. Erika might as well be the only reason why Hanna keeps holding on. Erika, with her passion for photography, with her fighting spirit, is a strong young woman seeking for freedom. When she first got into Auschwitz, she was the strongest one in the family. The one still standing, not losing hope. She was the strong one, the wild one. The one who was more angry than afraid. However, slowly the anger started to abandon her. Fear started to get to her. Therefore, Hanna is now trying to be the strong one. With her blind optimism, she’s trying to give back to her sister the hope she has lost.
One day Hanna is asked to start working for the commander of the camp thanks to her greatest passion: music.
In fact, she starts playing the piano for him. She hates to work for the people that ruined her life and everybody else's in the camp but thanks to this new job, she has more food to share with her sister and warm clothes to get through winter with. She makes new friends and new enemies.
Thanks to her new job, she also gets the chance to meet Karl, the camp commander’s son.
At first, she thinks he hates her, she thinks that he’s no better than his father.
But then they get the chance to spend more time together and she starts to realize that she was wrong. That Karl was nothing like his father. And, even though she knows she shouldn’t, she knows it’s wrong, she slowly starts to fall for the wrong boy.
I was hoping for a desperate-passionate heart-breaking forbidden love story but even though there were all the elements, it just seemed too shallow to me. I found the book too plain, stereotyped especially the love story. I wanted more. I wanted to know more about Erika, I wanted to know more about Karl. I wanted more details. More romance. A breath-taking love story. Not love-at-first-sight.
November 16, 2016
Dire che questo libro "mi è piaciuto molto" mi sembra di cattivo gusto, visto il tema trattato. Ovviamente non mi sono piaciuti il dolore e ingiustizia che la protagonista ha dovuto affrontare (lei sarà anche un personaggio fittizio, ma rappresenta milioni di persone vere, come il padre della scrittrice, effettivamente deportato), il racconto del campo è raggelante come tutti gli altri, senza fronzoli e senza illusioni. Però l'autrice ci tiene a tenere accesa la speranza, ci tiene a sottolineare (attraverso la piccola -immensa?- storia d'amore inter-razziale e attraverso la sua aguzzina ebrea) che le persone non sono mai tutte buone o tutte cattive. Le persone scelgono di fare cose o di non farle e appartenere a una razza (ebrea o ariana) non significa essere tutti uguali. In questo libro c'è Karl, il giovane figlio del comandante nazista di Birkenau, che schifato dal comportamento del padre cerca di fare quello che può per aiutare quelli che dovrebbero essere i suoi nemici. Nel mondo reale è esistito Oskar Schindler e, suppongo, come lui qualche altro.
Esistenze come questa non giustificano o scusano assolutamente le azioni di troppi altri, ma sono comunque una speranza.
In definitiva, sono contenta di aver letto questo libro (anche se mi ha fatto male), perché non bisogna demonizzare nessuno a priori.
Oggi ancora abbiamo bisogno di speranza e, se ce n'è stata allora, quando tutto sembrava perduto, significherà pur qualcosa.
Qui la recensione completa --> http://nonsempreiosonodelmiostessopar...
Esistenze come questa non giustificano o scusano assolutamente le azioni di troppi altri, ma sono comunque una speranza.
In definitiva, sono contenta di aver letto questo libro (anche se mi ha fatto male), perché non bisogna demonizzare nessuno a priori.
Oggi ancora abbiamo bisogno di speranza e, se ce n'è stata allora, quando tutto sembrava perduto, significherà pur qualcosa.
Qui la recensione completa --> http://nonsempreiosonodelmiostessopar...
January 21, 2016
La musica per sovrastare le urla, l'orrore, il dolore e la disperazione...
Tasti bianchi e neri che scandiscono il tempo dei ricordi e della speranza.
E la dolcezza sconfinata di piccolissimi gesti che riescono a dare conforto, là, dove non esiste altro che ORRORE.
Questo libro è una mina dentro al mio cuore perché, anche in mezzo alla crudeltà, l'amore e le scelte giuste riescono a donare la speranza!
Tasti bianchi e neri che scandiscono il tempo dei ricordi e della speranza.
E la dolcezza sconfinata di piccolissimi gesti che riescono a dare conforto, là, dove non esiste altro che ORRORE.
Questo libro è una mina dentro al mio cuore perché, anche in mezzo alla crudeltà, l'amore e le scelte giuste riescono a donare la speranza!
September 25, 2012
Although I found this book enjoyable it did have many lose ends that at the end of the book were left untied. You grew strong relations with the characters but at the end of the story I felt like the reader should be left more informed about what was going to happen to the girls with both the lover and the parents "presumed dead".
It would not have hurt to leave them some kind of fortune, money, family, a future. It made the book very gloomy especially with the author constantly hinting that all would soon be better.
Also the action got tiring there would be a cliffhanger after every chapter and would often not even be resolved or mentioned in the following chapters.
Finally I thought that although the main character was suppose to be 16 at times she sounded very young maybe even 12 years old. She kept on referring to be so bright for her age but it seemed as if she was not as intelligent as it may seem.
All in All I gave this book 3 stars as it was hard to put down and generally enjoyable although I found the ending annoying.
It would not have hurt to leave them some kind of fortune, money, family, a future. It made the book very gloomy especially with the author constantly hinting that all would soon be better.
Also the action got tiring there would be a cliffhanger after every chapter and would often not even be resolved or mentioned in the following chapters.
Finally I thought that although the main character was suppose to be 16 at times she sounded very young maybe even 12 years old. She kept on referring to be so bright for her age but it seemed as if she was not as intelligent as it may seem.
All in All I gave this book 3 stars as it was hard to put down and generally enjoyable although I found the ending annoying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2023
Ho iniziato questo libro con poca voglia e molto scetticismo: tutto (dal titolo ad effetto alla trama), mi lasciava pensare che fosse un romanzo furbetto, che si serve della tragedia del'olocausto per attirare giovani lettrici in cerca di storie d'amore "proibite". In parte i miei timori erano fondati, infatti la love story ed i dialoghi sono surreali e fuori contesto sia sociale che psicologico; tuttavia il tono del libro è più delicato di quanto mi aspettassi e non scade mai nel ridicolo o nel melodrammatico, pur con alcune ingenuità che mi hanno a volte divertito e a volte infastidito. Continuo a storcere il naso all'idea di un romance ambientato ad Auschwitz, ma ammetto che la questione è trattata con garbo e che non gira tutto intorno alla relazione tra i protagonisti.
E' un prodotto insignificante ma innocuo, che riesce ad intrattenere per qualche ora senza alcuna pretesa di profondità nello stile o nei contenuti.
E' un prodotto insignificante ma innocuo, che riesce ad intrattenere per qualche ora senza alcuna pretesa di profondità nello stile o nei contenuti.
April 20, 2017
In my opinion this would be a fantastic way to introduce younger people to the topic of the holocaust. Sad but with happy, hope-filled moments as well. Not overly graphic while also addressing the horrors that went on.It doesn't romanticise them through avoidance.
June 27, 2020
I feel rather deceived with that synopsis, since the romance is everything but the theme of this book.
May 5, 2015
In spring 1944, Hungary was occupied by German soldiers and in the city of Debrecen, a ghetto was formed at the end of April. Thinking her family was lucky because their apartment fell within the walls of the ghetto, Hanna Mendel continued to believe she would be able to attend Budapest Conservatorium of Music, where she had just been selected for a hard won place as a piano student.
But in the middle of a night in June 1944, a knock on the door by officers informed them that the Mendel family, parents, high-spirited, defiant older sister Erika and Hanna, 15, was ordered to assemble outside the synagogue at 8 the next morning. Before leaving, Hanna rips the C-sharp from her beloved piano and takes it with her. The next morning the Mendels, along with all of Debrecen's Jews, begin their long trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp.
Once they arrive at Auschwitz, the family is split up, but luckily Hanna, Erika and their mother are able to stay together in the same barrack, even sharing a bunk. Put to work in the quarry, one day Hanna sees her music teacher playing piano with an ensemble made of up inmates and called the Birkenau Women's Orchestra. Piri thinks that maybe she can get Hanna a place in it.
When that doesn't work out, Hanna is sent to audition with five other inmates for the camp's cruel commandant. Believing she doesn't stand a chance at being chosen, the commandant leave the choice to his totally disinterested son, Karl Jager, who points to Hanna.
Day after day, Hanna trudges to the commandant's house to await the order to play for him and any guests he may have. The only perks to playing for the commandant is a warm shower everyday (the commandant detests dirt), shoes, a warm coat and a warm house while she's there. The only extra food is leftovers she must steal and risk getting caught and shot.
Gradually, however, she discovers that Karl Jager harbors his own dangerous secrets and is not as disinterested or as indifferent as she originally thought. When he treats her kindly, Hanna finds herself more and more attracted to him. But returning to the barrack at the end of each day, she sees that her mother and Erika are cold, starving and barely surviving. To make matters worse, her mother, who had started going mad during the roundup in Debrecen, is having more and more trouble surviving the selections each time they are done.
Their one hope is that the Red Army is really moving east as rumored around the camp and that they arrive in time.
Playing for the Commandant is certainly a very readable book. I read it in one day. It is told in the first person by Hanna, a very observant 15 year old and on many levels her voice rings true. Her descriptions of the camp, of the cruelty inflicted on innocent people are spot on. When she talks about the lice, the smells, the moldy bread or about how skeleton thin her sister and the other women are becoming, you can clearly see and smell what she is describing.
Despite everything, Hanna'a father had told her to survive at any cost to tell the world what happened to the Jews of Europe and so, she is determined to do what her father wanted.
But when she talks about the danger of stealing scraps of leftover food, or of living under the pressure of always having to please the commandant, Hanna's fate feels just as capricious or dangerous as her fellow inmates. For example, when the gardener, a Jew, steps on the grave of the commandant's dog, he is shot in the head for it. But, when a girl at the commandant's house drops a tray with tea and cakes on it, I thought for sure that when she is removed from the house, she is also killed, but she shows up later, and I have to admit, I was surprised to see her again in the novel.
But, Hanna's growing romance with Karl is very most disturbing and a real flaw in the novel. I guess I thought Hanna should be thinking more about food than a boy. She didn't get that much more to eat than her sister, and what she got, she shared with Erika. Also, at one point, Hanna gets angry at the people, ordinary farmers, who watch her walk to and from the commandant's house every day and do nothing. I got mad at Karl for being against what the Nazis were doing to the Jews, but who passively sits by and watches it all happen. I would be curious to know how others feel about this part of an otherwise good novel.
Yet, despite this criticism, in the end, I thought that Playing for the Commandant is definitely worth reading for its message of survival and hope, but not for its gratuitous romance.
This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This was an EARC received from NetGalley
This review was originally posted at The Children's War
But in the middle of a night in June 1944, a knock on the door by officers informed them that the Mendel family, parents, high-spirited, defiant older sister Erika and Hanna, 15, was ordered to assemble outside the synagogue at 8 the next morning. Before leaving, Hanna rips the C-sharp from her beloved piano and takes it with her. The next morning the Mendels, along with all of Debrecen's Jews, begin their long trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp.
Once they arrive at Auschwitz, the family is split up, but luckily Hanna, Erika and their mother are able to stay together in the same barrack, even sharing a bunk. Put to work in the quarry, one day Hanna sees her music teacher playing piano with an ensemble made of up inmates and called the Birkenau Women's Orchestra. Piri thinks that maybe she can get Hanna a place in it.
When that doesn't work out, Hanna is sent to audition with five other inmates for the camp's cruel commandant. Believing she doesn't stand a chance at being chosen, the commandant leave the choice to his totally disinterested son, Karl Jager, who points to Hanna.
Day after day, Hanna trudges to the commandant's house to await the order to play for him and any guests he may have. The only perks to playing for the commandant is a warm shower everyday (the commandant detests dirt), shoes, a warm coat and a warm house while she's there. The only extra food is leftovers she must steal and risk getting caught and shot.
Gradually, however, she discovers that Karl Jager harbors his own dangerous secrets and is not as disinterested or as indifferent as she originally thought. When he treats her kindly, Hanna finds herself more and more attracted to him. But returning to the barrack at the end of each day, she sees that her mother and Erika are cold, starving and barely surviving. To make matters worse, her mother, who had started going mad during the roundup in Debrecen, is having more and more trouble surviving the selections each time they are done.
Their one hope is that the Red Army is really moving east as rumored around the camp and that they arrive in time.
Playing for the Commandant is certainly a very readable book. I read it in one day. It is told in the first person by Hanna, a very observant 15 year old and on many levels her voice rings true. Her descriptions of the camp, of the cruelty inflicted on innocent people are spot on. When she talks about the lice, the smells, the moldy bread or about how skeleton thin her sister and the other women are becoming, you can clearly see and smell what she is describing.
Despite everything, Hanna'a father had told her to survive at any cost to tell the world what happened to the Jews of Europe and so, she is determined to do what her father wanted.
But when she talks about the danger of stealing scraps of leftover food, or of living under the pressure of always having to please the commandant, Hanna's fate feels just as capricious or dangerous as her fellow inmates. For example, when the gardener, a Jew, steps on the grave of the commandant's dog, he is shot in the head for it. But, when a girl at the commandant's house drops a tray with tea and cakes on it, I thought for sure that when she is removed from the house, she is also killed, but she shows up later, and I have to admit, I was surprised to see her again in the novel.
But, Hanna's growing romance with Karl is very most disturbing and a real flaw in the novel. I guess I thought Hanna should be thinking more about food than a boy. She didn't get that much more to eat than her sister, and what she got, she shared with Erika. Also, at one point, Hanna gets angry at the people, ordinary farmers, who watch her walk to and from the commandant's house every day and do nothing. I got mad at Karl for being against what the Nazis were doing to the Jews, but who passively sits by and watches it all happen. I would be curious to know how others feel about this part of an otherwise good novel.
Yet, despite this criticism, in the end, I thought that Playing for the Commandant is definitely worth reading for its message of survival and hope, but not for its gratuitous romance.
This book is recommended for readers age 12+
This was an EARC received from NetGalley
This review was originally posted at The Children's War
January 22, 2016
Nessuno nasce odiando i propri simili a causa della razza,della religione,o della classe alla quale appartengono. Gli uomini imparano ad odiare, e se possono imparare ad odiare possono anche imparare ad amare,perché l’amore, per il cuore umano,è più naturale dell’odio. – Nelson Mandela
Questa che leggerete non è una tipica recensione, perché sono del parere che libri di questo genere, che trattano argomenti di questo genere, non possono essere analizzati come qualsiasi altro libro. Possono essere apprezzati, ma non giudicati, non da una semplice ragazza che l’Olocausto l’ha solo letto o visto nei film. Quindi consideratela come un commento, un suggerimento a leggere “la pianista di Auschwitz”, a cercare di capire l’orrore più vero attraverso gli occhi di una sedicenne.
Imparai che essere solidali era da deboli e la brutalità una virtù, in quel mondo alla rovescia.
Hanna è una sedicenne che viene internata insieme alla sorella Enrika, la madre e il padre,nel campo di concentramento di Birkenau alla metà del 1944, fino alla liberazione per mano dell’armata rossa,nel 1945. La descrizione accenna alla storia d’amore che la protagonista ha con il figlio del capitano delle SS per il quale fa la pianista, Karl. Non è un romanzo d’amore, ma l’autrice dimostra come un sentimento così bello possa nascere anche tra rovine e macerie, tra l’odio più puro. È un amore pericoloso ma anche potente, che salva la ragazza infondendole speranza.
Non mi vergogno di ciò che sono, avrei voluto dirgli. Sono orgogliosa di essere un’ebrea. Vivo dietro quel filo spinato insieme a filosofi,scienziati,artisti e insegnati,a zingari, poeti e compositori. Tu vivi in una casa piena di odio.
Con una lingua semplice e diretta, schietta e vera, Hanna vi racconta la sua storia e sembra superfluo dirlo, perché è impossibile restarne indifferenti, ma ne verrete coinvolti al 100%. La inizierete a leggere con la lentezza e il rispetto che la situazione merita, tuttavia man mano, aumenterete la velocità divorando gli ultimi capitoli in un solo respiro. Resterete colpiti da un finale inatteso ma anche fortemente sperato. Suzy Zail, la quale ha conosciuto l’olocausto attraverso le parole del padre, un sopravvissuto, ha dato vita ad un libro di speranza, da leggere e avere in libreria.
Non c’era vergogna nel desiderio di cavarsela. Non volevo morire. Avevo a malapena iniziato a vivere. Volevo continuare a vivere e volevo continuare a suonare il pianoforte.
Questa che leggerete non è una tipica recensione, perché sono del parere che libri di questo genere, che trattano argomenti di questo genere, non possono essere analizzati come qualsiasi altro libro. Possono essere apprezzati, ma non giudicati, non da una semplice ragazza che l’Olocausto l’ha solo letto o visto nei film. Quindi consideratela come un commento, un suggerimento a leggere “la pianista di Auschwitz”, a cercare di capire l’orrore più vero attraverso gli occhi di una sedicenne.
Imparai che essere solidali era da deboli e la brutalità una virtù, in quel mondo alla rovescia.
Hanna è una sedicenne che viene internata insieme alla sorella Enrika, la madre e il padre,nel campo di concentramento di Birkenau alla metà del 1944, fino alla liberazione per mano dell’armata rossa,nel 1945. La descrizione accenna alla storia d’amore che la protagonista ha con il figlio del capitano delle SS per il quale fa la pianista, Karl. Non è un romanzo d’amore, ma l’autrice dimostra come un sentimento così bello possa nascere anche tra rovine e macerie, tra l’odio più puro. È un amore pericoloso ma anche potente, che salva la ragazza infondendole speranza.
Non mi vergogno di ciò che sono, avrei voluto dirgli. Sono orgogliosa di essere un’ebrea. Vivo dietro quel filo spinato insieme a filosofi,scienziati,artisti e insegnati,a zingari, poeti e compositori. Tu vivi in una casa piena di odio.
Con una lingua semplice e diretta, schietta e vera, Hanna vi racconta la sua storia e sembra superfluo dirlo, perché è impossibile restarne indifferenti, ma ne verrete coinvolti al 100%. La inizierete a leggere con la lentezza e il rispetto che la situazione merita, tuttavia man mano, aumenterete la velocità divorando gli ultimi capitoli in un solo respiro. Resterete colpiti da un finale inatteso ma anche fortemente sperato. Suzy Zail, la quale ha conosciuto l’olocausto attraverso le parole del padre, un sopravvissuto, ha dato vita ad un libro di speranza, da leggere e avere in libreria.
Non c’era vergogna nel desiderio di cavarsela. Non volevo morire. Avevo a malapena iniziato a vivere. Volevo continuare a vivere e volevo continuare a suonare il pianoforte.
June 20, 2015
Lots of tears. A heart-wrenching book.
December 22, 2024
Heartbreaking! 😭
August 10, 2023
After reading the absolute MONSTER that was Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, I decided to revisit a book I read in eighth grade. I don’t know how I liked it even back then.
This story is about Hanna Mendel, a Hungarian Jew, who seemingly had her life planned out ahead of her. She hoped to become a famous pianist, but her life was disrupted when she was forcibly taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
She was offered an audition to be the commandant’s pianist, and she got the role, along with access to more food. And better company, since she had taken interest in the commandant’s son Karl.
Now this story could’ve easily been one about how prejudice is learned and not something born with, but the message takes a backseat with the shoddy romantic plot. In fact, everything seems to take a backseat. You’d assume her survival would be the main thing, but her romance with Karl is intrusive. At that point, you’d assume the romance is the main idea, but no, it’s overshadowed by the fact that THIS IS A STORY ABOUT STARCROSSED HOLOCAUST LOVERS. Yes, I am not joking. The story could’ve been more meaningful, and it’s meaning less cloudy without the romance.
It’s a cheap love story, one that only comes to be because Hanna is conveniently someone with blue eyes and blonde hair… Of course, they get to know each other throughout, but there were a total of like, 3 meaningful interactions. I would expect more development with that, and would’ve wanted more insight on Hanna’s guilt.
This is such a specific set of circumstances, and yet it comes off cliche? Metaphors like “I felt like I was drowning underwater” just were not cutting it to express Hanna’s reaction to the atrocities she witnessed. I understand she’s 15, and this is written in first person, but she still a human? With actual feelings? The writing comes off so ingenuine, from her observations, to the dialogue, to the connection between her and Karl.
I still give it 2 stars because … look if I was 13 on wattpad again, I would’ve ate this up. Hell, maybe I’d still eat it up if it was a strange day and I needed my fix. BUT NOT WHEN ITS IN THIS CONTEXT. And probably with better writing… I guess YA isn’t for me.
This story is about Hanna Mendel, a Hungarian Jew, who seemingly had her life planned out ahead of her. She hoped to become a famous pianist, but her life was disrupted when she was forcibly taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
She was offered an audition to be the commandant’s pianist, and she got the role, along with access to more food. And better company, since she had taken interest in the commandant’s son Karl.
Now this story could’ve easily been one about how prejudice is learned and not something born with, but the message takes a backseat with the shoddy romantic plot. In fact, everything seems to take a backseat. You’d assume her survival would be the main thing, but her romance with Karl is intrusive. At that point, you’d assume the romance is the main idea, but no, it’s overshadowed by the fact that THIS IS A STORY ABOUT STARCROSSED HOLOCAUST LOVERS. Yes, I am not joking. The story could’ve been more meaningful, and it’s meaning less cloudy without the romance.
It’s a cheap love story, one that only comes to be because Hanna is conveniently someone with blue eyes and blonde hair… Of course, they get to know each other throughout, but there were a total of like, 3 meaningful interactions. I would expect more development with that, and would’ve wanted more insight on Hanna’s guilt.
This is such a specific set of circumstances, and yet it comes off cliche? Metaphors like “I felt like I was drowning underwater” just were not cutting it to express Hanna’s reaction to the atrocities she witnessed. I understand she’s 15, and this is written in first person, but she still a human? With actual feelings? The writing comes off so ingenuine, from her observations, to the dialogue, to the connection between her and Karl.
I still give it 2 stars because … look if I was 13 on wattpad again, I would’ve ate this up. Hell, maybe I’d still eat it up if it was a strange day and I needed my fix. BUT NOT WHEN ITS IN THIS CONTEXT. And probably with better writing… I guess YA isn’t for me.
April 23, 2019
"Look after each other, and get home safe. And when you do, tell everyone what you saw and what they did to us." These were the last words that Hanna and Erika ever heard from their father before they got separated for life in Auschwitz. Hanna is a child prodigy at the piano, having already earned a scholarship to the Budapest Conservatory as a soloist before getting deported to Auschwitz. On the other hand, Erika, an outgoing young lady, is Hanna's older sister. This book taught me that going through the Holocaust required hope. It required persistence and most of all, it required bravery. The Holocaust was a depressing and sad thing that humans have caused due to jealousy and hate. Because of Hanna's talent, she got chosen at an audition to play the piano for the commandment as background music. Hanna had this privilege to be treated slightly better than the other jews, playing the piano as her job at Auschwitz. While on the other side of camp, Erika was suffering from hard labor, constant abuse, and little food or water. As Hanna manages to collect extra scrapes of food here and there, she always saves them for Erika. "Playing for the commandment" has showed me the truth of the holocaust through the perspective of a young jewish musician who has a natural talent for piano. She and her sister managed to survive the grueling experience of the holocaust because of bravery which caused hope which led them to persistence. I finished this book on the Social Studies trip I went on last week. When we visited Auschwitz in person, I tried to imagine. I tried to imagine what it would be like having to spend 4 years in these harsh conditions. I imagined what it would be like having to do hard labor everyday in harsh weather and having no food or water provided. I tried to imagine what it would be like to sleep in the bug infested barracks. As I thought about it, a mix of emotions started building up in me, but the one that floated on top was sympathy. The Holocaust victims were like the prey already in the predators sight, having only a few more minutes of life left. This book related me back to my experience in Europe last week and made me realize how amazing and heroic all the people of the Holocaust truly was.
January 19, 2021
I have finally found it!!!!! Ich habe dieses Buch vor langer Zeit mal in der Bücherei ausgeliehen. Die Geschichte hat mich von Anfang an berührt!!!!!! Ich konnte das Buch nie von meinem Hinterkopf lassen. Jz gerade wo ich meine Geschichtshausaufgaben am machen bin, musste ich wieder an das Buch denken. Leider habe ich aber immer,, Klang der Hoffnung" mit,, Klang des Herzens verwechselt", weshalb ich es nie gefunden habe :) Würde es gerne irgendwann rereaden
October 28, 2017
I've been so lucky in regard to historical fiction this year! This book was an absolute marvel filled with such deep emotion that I struggled to put it down! I just wanted to know what was coming next. The events of the Holocaust are so often written about and I know a great deal about them, but even I learned more from this book which left me in such tears, I struggled to see the words! I am so happy to have discovered a new favourite author in Suzy Zail, and look forward to reading more of her books in the future! This one goes down in my top 3 novels!
June 25, 2017
Absolutely wonderful.
May 1, 2023
WOW what a book; 245 pages of amazing plot and reminders of the atrocities the Nazis committed during World War II. I would absolutely recommend to anyone willing to read this!
February 17, 2022
Ok, nothing really good or bad about it, but it is better than prisoner B-3087
The only thing I didn’t like about it was the romance between her and Karl which made the ending iffy
*2.5
The only thing I didn’t like about it was the romance between her and Karl which made the ending iffy
*2.5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2012
Any writing about Auschwitz will always be harrowing, but meant that much more to me after visiting there last year. Vividly told from the perspective of Hanna, a 16yo gifted musical student, and targeted to a secondary school audience, she discovers that not all Germans believed in the Nazi cause.
January 31, 2019
1.5 Stars
The relationship this book is based on is not developed AT ALL. The two have maybe 3 written out conversations and everything else is glazed over. Consequently, I did not care whatsoever about what happened to Karl. It seems like a good 100 pages from the middle were missing.
The relationship this book is based on is not developed AT ALL. The two have maybe 3 written out conversations and everything else is glazed over. Consequently, I did not care whatsoever about what happened to Karl. It seems like a good 100 pages from the middle were missing.
March 22, 2023
A heart-wrenchingly, beautifully well-written novel about the holocaust, love and will. I’m so bad with words, so I can’t describe how much I loved this book. 100% recommend to anyone interested in historical fiction.
May 4, 2015
3.75/5
October 28, 2016
I've always loved historical fiction, so much more if they're set during WWII. This is by far one of my favorites. Hearbreaking yet so beautiful at the same time.
April 2, 2018
Truly shocking, sad and so beautifully written. I’m speechless. I adore that the book also deals with life-after-war topic and Hanna’s character development is amazing.
September 21, 2021
Well to be honest I’m not a fan of reading neither am I a fan of sitting for hours reading books but this book is the book that got me to seriously consider to continue reading books. I love the storyline and the creativity as well as how the book is very realistic in a sense that such things happened in the WW2. The emotions based off the characters experience touched me. The great character development throughout the book allowed me to explore the human nature within our personal life to open up my mind to different perspectives. Though I was not a fan of the title as the book could’ve been titled better, I would definitely recommend this book to everyone. Especially those who are looking for books to read with rich emotions and realistic features.
September 2, 2017
This book is good but the storyline was predictable.
The fact that the main character is a classically trained pianist was the only reason I really loved this book other than the fact that the author was able to describe concentration camp life so well.
Maybe the reason this book isn't one I would recommend is because the romance didn't seem appropriate at a time where the protagonist should be worried about survival rather than falling in love with the commandants son as ridiculous as that sounds but maybe I'm being too harsh?!?
Honestly I was disappointed with this book even though I wanted to love it.
The fact that the main character is a classically trained pianist was the only reason I really loved this book other than the fact that the author was able to describe concentration camp life so well.
Maybe the reason this book isn't one I would recommend is because the romance didn't seem appropriate at a time where the protagonist should be worried about survival rather than falling in love with the commandants son as ridiculous as that sounds but maybe I'm being too harsh?!?
Honestly I was disappointed with this book even though I wanted to love it.
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