Girl In The Blue Coat

This is a book I am excited to put on my school shelves. Hanneke is a young girl in Amsterdam in the middle of Nazi occupation. She smuggles goods to help out. One request will set her on a dangerous journey. Hanneke has been asked to locate a young Jewish girl named Mirjam. For this assignment she will need to get help from a resistance group. The book is true to WWII and the horrors of the Nazis. One reason I find this such an important book for my school shelves is that we have a holocaust unit. I try to provide great books that accurately tell of the holocaust events. So many people sided with the Nazis, not because they hated the Jews but because they wanted to improve their own position in life. Some were just bystanders who didn’t agree but didn’t want to get involved. This book shows so many sides to this war. As a word of caution it is full of the violence that so many experienced. This type of history should never be watered down. I applaud this author for telling a story that is authentic and exactly what kids and adults should learn. We need more books like this that show the importance of resistance groups and people like Hanneke.

Gifted this to my granddaughter who loves to read.

Intended for a YA audience, the content and subject matter make this book engaging for adults as well. The setting is The Netherlands during World War II. The protagonist is a young woman involved in the black market. A page turning story of young love, war, survival and devotion, this historic novel is intense and powerful. Rich in detail and depth, the spirit of hope underlies the atrocities portrayed throughout this composition. The ravages of war and the price of freedom are issues that are broached with sensitivity and discernment. Losses are agonizing and the challenges of survival are considerable, but hope remains. Excellent reading!

In the midst of World War II, a girl makes a living smuggling goods to others in her city. Lipstick, food, coffee, you name it. But one day a customer as a request for something she has never found before. A girl. And when her path becomes intertwined with people from her past, will they together be able to find the girl before she is gone forever?

This book was pretty good. I love historical fiction books, especially during the WWII time period, so I have enjoyed books such as The Girl from the Train (or is it the Girl on the Train?), Number the Stars when I was younger, Night, etc. This book had an interesting storyline I had not seen before, hitting off of the fact that certain goods were rare and people still wanted them, hence how the girl in the blue coat made her living. The writing was decent, could have been better, and some things were not necessary. If you do not pay attention things can get a little confusing.

There was suspense throughout the book, characters were ok, but I did not like how it did not delve deeper into WWII and remained on the surface about a lot of things. SO, recommending this to younger YA readers, maybe middle school and up because of this and the writing not being super advanced.

Parental Guidance: no curse words, sex/nudity, no extreme violence or graphic scenes, etc. Some people might want to know there is one character who turns out to be gay so some might keep that in mind when allowing a younger child to read the book depending on the parent/adult

Come dimenticare Anneke e la sua ricerca di Miriam? Ho così amato questo libro da rileggerlo. Col suo bel romanzo carico di suspense, la Hesse ci porta nell’ Olanda occupata dai nazisti. È una storia sulla presa di coscienza individuale della necessità di lottare contro la barbarie ed anche una straziante storia di amicizia. Da non perdere!

Amazing read! Wow. Makes you think, a lot. I quickly started caring about Hanneke and admired her determination and courage. War brings out so many different parts of our humanity. Hanneke reminds us of the need to harden oneself and look for every way to survive. The story is written so well that you feel pangs in the heart with agonizing loss and hope. It is beautiful that our basic need to love and be loved does not disappear. Ollie is an unsung hero. He is good to the core and I so very much liked him. Judith and Mina are wonderful and thankfully people like Mina left us evidence of the atrocities. I appreciated all the characters and the detail given to them, their roles, and to their surroundings. These teenagers and young adults had to tackle issues and situations that are too complicated for adults. The story was true to emotions dominating until someone managed to steady the situation and be a voice of reason. Anger, frustration, fear, forgiveness, love, bravery and much more were well portrayed. It was incredible how well written the story is and how I did not want to put it down. There were many twists and turns with quite a few surprises. This book is not only for the YA readers. It’s a must read, especially if you enjoy historical fiction.

Love this well written book. Great history research by author.