Customer Reviews

In My Enemy's House

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This book tells what it would be like if you had to hide, in plain sight of your enemy. Marisa, who is Jewish, is fifteen when Nazis invade her city in Poland. Her entire family is killed in a roundup, except for Marisa and a brother and sister. The brother and sister flee into the woods to join the partisans. That is their chance to live. But Marisa's chance is to pose as a Christian girl and work as a servant to a German Nazi. She will have to keep silent, forget who she is, forget everything except that she must not tell the truth, no matter what she does

When I was first told about this book I thought it would be just another book about World War II and how a Jew went into hiding to escape Hitler. This book is about a girl named Marisa and how her blonde hair and blue eyes disguises her as a Polish worker. Marisa's family is separated and she is left alone with her cousin Shmuel, who she is in love with. He knows that the only way for Marisa to survive is to get papers from a family friend and take the identity of a Polish girl and work as a servant, to hide her true identity of a Jew. So that is what she does, she goes to Germany to get work and ends up working on a large farm for a Nazi family. The longer she stays on the farm the more confused she gets about her feelings toward this family. She gets very close to the oldest daughter on the farm named Charlotte. Charlotte has a secret and Marisa has to decide to betray her and tell her father about it to protect Charlotte and her own secret or to further endanger herself and Charlotte. Marisa is surprised that Charlotte and the rest of the family treat her like part of the family. Although Marisa kind of loves the Reymanns family she also hates them for some of the things they stand for, like all the insults and their hatred towards Jews, and for basically being Nazi. Can she stand pretending to be someone she's not?
At first I didn't think I would enjoy this book very much, but it shows you different views about how people thought about Jews and Hitler. Like the view of a Jew to the view of a Nazi. Even the view of anti-Hitler groups, they hated Hitler's ideas but they hated Jews too. This book would be enjoyed by mature children and adults. I hope you get the same vibes out of this book as I did.

This book is a wonderful piece of Holocaust literature. The perspective that it is told from, the eyes of a Polish girl living as a servant in Nazi Germany, is one rarely written about in any teenage Holocaust books. This book is a must read for any teenager interested in the Holocaust, especially interested in the daily life of an Aryan youth. Once again, Carol Matas adds another spectacular addition to the world of teenage Holocaust literature.
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"In My Enemies House," is about a Jewish family, who are in a living nightmare, soon after `the people arrived. This was the WW2 time when "the people" hated the Jews, with the many attempts to try to escape from going to the getto.this took place in a small town outside of Germany, in the years of 1938-1945. After many people being captured, it shows a girl's persistence to become free, and not be critized because of her background. With a clear horrifying tale told by the narrator even in the worst of times people can surprise you. This is a fine perspective of how love, faith, and hatred, can turn to determination, and reality. This was a very intense book, if you don't watch out it could end at anytime. This was an extraordinary version of how a girl with nothing will have everything at the end.

What would you do if the only way to survive was to hide in the enemy's country? And even worse, in the enemy's house? This is exactly what Marisa has to do to save her own life. Her blonde hair and blue eyes disguising her as a Polish worker, Marisa goes to work in Germany, the papers of a Polish girl named Maria hiding her real identity as a Jew. Eventually, Marisa ends up working on a large farm for a Nazi family. As she stays on the farm longer, Marisa wonders- What should I think of these people?- as she becomes closer to Charlotte and the rest of the family and remembers her own family members, killed at the hands of the Nazis. The words of her father, cousin, and many more guide her through the toughest times as she learns that her heart should open up to see the real person inside everyone- even some of her enemies.

I loved this book, along with the many other World War 2 fiction books by Carol Matas. These books are great if you like to read historical fiction- they have real facts, great characters, intreging plots, and even a little bit of romance! I hope you like this book and maybe even the other Carol Matas books as much as I do!

I throughly enjoyed this book. It is one of Carol Matas's best, and trust me, I've read them all. This book honestly gave me chills. I thought it was just me, being [foolish] I can understand what it would be like to open a door and see your death. However, I got some of my friends to read the book and I found they had much the same experience. In short, this book has the power to envoke strong feelings, joyousness, shock, sadness, and awful fear, and you will experience all of these in this book. It is an emotional roller coaster.

This is a great book for people wanting to learn more about the Holocaust. This one is especially unique because the story is told through the perspective of a child. The novel is entitled, 'In My Enemey's House' because...she is! She is posing as a Pole (treated like rats at the time, but not nearly is bad as the Jews were treated), and goes through an organization, where she is sent to stay with an important Nazi officer and his family. In fact, a game played by the children is called "Jews Out," which was actually a non-fictional game played at that time period. How do I know this, do you ask? Carol Matas came to my school and had a speech of her books. This one was one of my favorites. Read it!

This book, "In My Enemy's House", is thrilling, sad, and happy all in one. I really knew how Marisa felt from the detailed descriptions. (Although it was a little slow in the middle.) I never really had a true passion for reading, but when I read this book I just couldn't put it down. Just think how scary it would be in her position. She had to trade papers with a Polish girl to save her own life, and she had to hide out with her brother, Yehuda, sister, Fanny, and part-cousin Shmuel. Except Shmuel wasn't her cousin by genetics, he was her cousin by marraige. They became very fond of eachother. You can really see how this relationship and each character grows in the story. If you like nail-bitting thrillers, then this one's for you!

... This is a wounderfull book about the courage of a jewish girl during World War Two. This book, by Carol Matas, is an inspiring book and one of the best Holocaust books I have ever read. Marisa (the main characer) is a jewish girl during World War Two. With her blond hair and blue eyes she could pass for a pole, but why should she live when her mamma, pappa and most of her family are dead? Marisa has to reach deep inside herself and dscover the courage that he never knew she had to surive. I loved this book and I think everyone who loves people with courage, Holocaust stories, and loves to read realy good books with wounderful plots and meaning, this is deffently the best book for you! I hope you read it and enjoy it!

Marisa is a Polish Jew living in the time of the Holocaust. Most of her family is killed in the roundup of all Jews, and her only surviving brother and sister go off to find a group of Jewish freedom fighters.

Marisa, who is blond and blue-eyed and can easily pass for a non-Jewish Pole, goes to an employment office and is sent to work as a servant for a Nazi family. Marisa is initially fearful and hates them, but then she begins to grow fond of this family, and they begin to like her, too, and treat her as more than just a servant.

Marisa is forced to face her fears and to make decisions about whether to hate these people because of what they believe, or like them becsuse of who they are. This is a valid question for all of us who have ever observed friends carrying prejudices.