Rachel Shwartz was just a normal teenage girl living in Poland in 1937. She enjoyed sneaking out to a local dance hall with her best friend Bina. She loved spending time with her family and loved school. Imagine someone coming to your home one day and telling you and your family that your home and farm are no longer yours……what would you do? How would you feel? That is exactly what happened to many Jewish people during World War II. Rachel along with her brother David, his wife Hinda and their three children Sarah, Abi and Yossi are forced from their home to a neighboring town where people are dying every day from overwork and starvation. This begins the journey and escape of the Shwartz family which takes them from Poland through Hungary, Romania and finally Palestine.

Along the way they encounter many hardships and become separated several times. They meet many kind people who take them in and hide them even knowing the risks. David and Hinda end up in a prison with Yossi and several other people they were in hiding with. Sarah and Abi have to run and hide alone in the woods from the Russians. Rachel is chased from her hiding spot in a boiler room and runs into an SS soldier and barely escapes. They also find out that most of their family has been killed in the extermination camps. My favorite part of this book is how it’s written from each person’s perspective so you really get the feeling that you understand each family member and you feel like you know them. I read this book in one day and it left me longing for more. The courage of Rachel and the Shwartz family really impressed me and the hardships they had to endure while just trying to survive broke my heart. I would encourage you to read this book and tell me what you think. Such an amazing read!

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