The Young Survivors (inspired by a true story)

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Like many historical novels the book begins in a contemporary setting, with a character reconnecting with someone or something from their past. The narrative is then told in the first person and ‘real-time’ and in alternate chapters by the Laskowski children who survived. In fact the youngest child doesn’t start ‘writing’ until late in the book, due to the fact that she would have been too young earlier on. This book tells the story of a Jewish family that was ripped apart during WWII. There are 5 siblings who are tossed all around Europe at an attempt of survival. They're parents were arrested early during the war and never returned. This is a new tale of the Jewish people during this nasty time. Instead of being about the camps, it is about the the 5 children who were taken away from one another and moved from one home to another to try and stay out of the German's hands. I especially liked the way the book describes events through the eyes of the different siblings, showing how different ages understand and experience things very differently according to their personal needs and interests. While the eldest son rises nobly to the responsibility conferred to him as the new head of the family, his younger brother finds intrigue and teenage camaraderie in the various new situations that he experiences. At kindergarten age their younger sister’s needs are st Debra said, "I wanted to write this story to shed light on the fate of Jews in France during the war, something which is not often considered. The book is dedicated to my mother who managed to live a full and happy life despite the horrors of the Holocaust.

Set against the darkest days of WWII, the novel reminds us that the bonds of family and the power of love can never be extinguished.' Alyson Richman, bestselling author of The Lost Wife'A heartbreaking yet uplifting story of loss and love told through the eyes of children... gripping and deeply moving.' James MacManus'A hugely impressive debut.' Michael Newman, CEO of The Association of Jewish Refugees'A novel that is arrestingly sincere, full of touching moments and informed by careful research. The author has put together a very good story telling, which keeps you want to continue reading it. Storys that took place during WW II were very dramtic and often so barbaric that, it became scary and quite horrible. There is no safe place left for them to evade the Nazis, but they cling together, never certain when the authorities will come for what is left of them. Barnes is planning another novel, inspired more overtly by the testimony she’s heard at the AJR. It will be based on experiences of the Kindertransport. “I’ve heard so many amazing stories,” she says, “I feel I’m doing my bit to keep these important accounts alive”.I especially liked the way the book describes events through the eyes of the different siblings, showing how different ages understand and experience things very differently according to their personal needs and interests. While the eldest son rises nobly to the responsibility conferred to him as the new head of the family, his younger brother finds intrigue and teenage camaraderie in the various new situations that he experiences. At kindergarten age their younger sister’s needs are still very primal and she instinctively trusts the adults around her. Though she is discreet about the dynamics of her home life, something in her mother’s past was deeply troubling and may have been behind Barnes wanting to escape to Spain, where she lived for a decade, returning with a five-year-old daughter in 1997. Debra Barnes is the debut author of The Young Survivors. The book was inspired by her mother, Paulette, who was born in France in 1938. Debra Barnes’s The Young Survivors. It’s a book that overlaps with the experience of my father’s uncle and aunt, who were Polish Jews, naturalised French, turned in by Vichy and deported to Auschwitz. In this story, based on the true story of what happened to Barnes’s mother, five children lose their parents and do what they have to do to survive. Debra said, "I wanted to write this story to shed light on the fate of Jews in France during the war, something which is not often considered. The book is dedicated to my mother who managed to live a full and happy life despite the horrors of the Holocaust. I often wondered how she managed to live with the burden of having survived when her twin sister perished, something she never spoke about.

But Barnes grew up with a sense of guilt and also “that I needed to do everything in my power to make her happy”.The Laskowski family live in Metz, they have three boys Pierre, Samuel and Claude and they have just celebrated the birth of twin girls Henriette and Georgette. They have no idea that before the girls turn one, the family would have to leave Metz, to put some distant between them and the rapidly advancing German army. The Germans easily invade France, Jewish adults start being arrested in the middle of the night, they disappear and never to be seen again.

Not a lot is written about the orphanages full of Jewish children whose parents have been arrested by the Nazi's and sent away. While many Jewish families were rounded up and sent away together, some parents were arrested and children left to fend for themselves. These children often ended up in orphanages set up around the country,

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What if everyone you loved was suddenly taken away?Five siblings struggle to stay together as the tides of war threaten to tear them apart.

What a heartbreaking, but ultimately uplifting, story! It is made even more poignant knowing that it is based on the story of the author's mother as a young child during the Holocaust and WWII. I'm so glad that she has told her mother's story; we need stories like this to remind us of the past so that we can all have a better future by not repeating atrocities. This is a book that lives up to the term “unputdownable,” one given to many books but rarely merited. It follows the story of five Jewish siblings whose world is upended and shattered when all the adults in their lives are taken away to concentration camps. So the oldest brother, who is only in his mid-teens, takes care of his four younger siblings as best he can, including four-year-old twin girls. The things they see and experience are heartbreaking. The book is told in the alternating viewpoints of the children, and I liked the insights the different children gave into what was happening with them. They go through so much, but you truly get a sense of the resilience these children have, doing the best they can to survive in a frightening world that IS out to get them. It's a story that certainly evokes a variety of emotions as you read it, and you can't help but continue to think about the book after you've finished it. I so love historical fiction that is based in reality, especially the real lives of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. This is just one of those books. Highly recommended. The Young Survivors is an emotional story of love and loss, hope and survival throughout the Second World War. A memorable story that will no doubt stay with me for some time. This is one of those impossible to put down books. You know the ones where the pacing, the chapter breaks etc are all perfectly timed so you keep reading 'just one more bit', until you are late for making dinner, or have stayed up too late?' Thank you Debra Barnes for writing such a tear jerking, emotional and gripping book which i really enjoyed.Even if we study at school about the Holocaust and we have watched, probably, hundreds of movies about it, I still can’t shake the dreadful feelings I feel when reading the survivors testimonies.. this book based on the author’s mother story is heartbreaking. Those innocent kids having to endure so much pain and experiencing such a traumatising fate.. and when everything is over they are left with the grief of loosing their loved ones, at the expenses of a group of fanatics.. honestly it just upsets me!