Customer Reviews

The Upstairs Room (Trophy Newbery)

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In class I was assigned to read The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss. The story takes place during the Holocaust in the city of Usselo, Holland. The main character is Annie. She is a small girl with dark hair. She has two sisters and her mother gets very sick. I have also read the book Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer, with quotes from Alfons Heck, a German soldier, and Helen Waterford, a Jew. Both Parallel Journeys and The Upstairs Room are about the Holocaust and what it was like to be a Jew. I feel that the message of The Upstiars Room was to treat all people equal. During the Holocaust, Hitler hated the Jews and was killing them. The Jews had to hide so that they would not be killed, but if they were found, they would be sent to work or extermination camps. Hitler established the Hitler Youth in which there were ranks. If you got to the top of the ranks, you would then be moved to the German army. I think The Upstairs Room is an excellent book. It was very exciting. It made me imagine myself as Annie. I think Johanna Reiss did a good job telling the story as Annie. I would recommend this book to girls from grades six and up because there was some language inappropriate for young childrenand some boys that read The Upstairs Room told me that it was a girl's book. I hope this book review helps you decide if you want to read The Upstairs Room.

The Upstairs Room is an excellent book about Jews hiding during WWII. The main character is Annie de Leeuw. She was a nine-year-old Jewish girl living in Holland. Slowly Annie and her family were forced to quit school and their jobs. The loss of freedom destroyed Annie's spirit. She longed to be able to see her friends and play outside. The de Leeuw's decided to hide when they realized the Nazi's would be taking them to concentration camps. The entire family could not hide in the same location, so they split up. Annie's mother was ill, so she remained in a hospital. Annie and her sister, Sini, hid upstairs in the Oosterveld's farmhouse. Her father and sister, Raquel, stayed with a retired minister. Annie and Sini were cramped in a very small space, which was incredibly cold in the winter. The girls often spent many days in bed to keep warm. Annie was often forced to walk back and forth across the room to strengthen her legs because they began to grow irregularly. The girls had to hide in a closet for days on end when Nazi soldiers used the Oosterveld's house as an office. The Oosterveld's took excellent care of Annie and Sini and became quite attached. The entire time spent in the room was stressful and depressing for the girls. They were only allowed to go outside a few times during the their time in hiding. Annie and her family hid for two years before they could return to their home. The sacrifice the Oosterveld's made to save the girls is incredibly moving. The strength and perseverance Annie and Sini possess will inspire readers for years to come.

This book was fabulous! It's definately one of the best Holocaust books out there. It has great character development and a very suspenseful plot. Also the first person perspective tells the story in a whole new way. The book is about a Jewish family, the deLeeuws, from holland, who tries to go into hiding. While the germans are throwing people out of their homes, Annie who is six and her older sister Sini hide. at the same time their mother is terribly sick and their other sister Rachel stays to take care of her. Later in the book Annie and Sini hide in the Oostervelds, a simple Gentile farming family. the story unfolds into a wonderful relationship between the deLeeuws and the Oostervelds. this book is a must! Read it and learn what some people will do to save a life. I couldent put it down and i'm sure you wont either.

This book is about 2 girls, Annie and Sini de Leeuw. Because they are Jewish and live in Holland they have to go into hiding from the Germans during World War II. If they don't they will be taken to a concentration camp and be killed.
Both of the girls leave their parents and older sister to go to safety with the Hannicks. Mr Hannick is known for helping Jews get to different home to hide in. When someone sees Mr Hannick helping a Jewish family to another home, it becomes unsafe for the girls so they have to go somewhere else.
They end up going to the Oosterveld's. The girls end up living in an upstairs room of the farmhouse. During the day they must quietly stay upstairs in their room and never go near the windows. In the evening, after dinner,the girls come down to listen to the radio.
Mr.Oosterveld's makes a special hiding place so if the soldiers come to check the house the girls won't be caught. Do the soldiers come? Do they get caught? What happens to Sini , Annie and the Oosterveld's? Do Annie and Sini ever get to see their parents and sister again? You must read the book to see for yourself what the answers are.
. So many exciting things happen throughout the book that I couldn't put it down and I bet you won't either. It's not another boring war book. It's hard to believe that it is based on fact. I can't wait to read the sequel - The Journey Back...........This book is a five star read

I really enjoyed The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss. It was one of the very few books that has kept me pulled in and interested the entire time. The characters were real, and the story gave distinct detail about their physical appearances and individual personalities. It shows the struggle of a Jewish family trying to stay together, and most of all stay alive. You feel as though you are right there with the characters though every life threatening account with the German Nazi's.
The people who will like this book are individuals that may be interested in World War II, or the history of Germany and Holland during the 1940's. This could also be intriguing for people who enjoy reading about life struggles and how people have overcome them.

I read this book the first time when I was in third grade. (...) It is an amazing book and a true story. It truly shows the greatness of the human spirit. I've read this book 5 times at the least and still could read it another 100 and enjoy it. I truly recomend this book!

The Upstairs Room is a wonderful book by Johanna Reiss. I first started reading the book in Language Arts class. We were assigned groups to read books about WWII. I thought to myself oh man. We have to read a boring book about the war. When I got the book, I started to read it, and I got hooked. I just couldn't put it down. I was thinking at the time that the book was great. It's not like other boring WWII books. I really loved it. The book made me feel alive, as if I was there. There's a lot of emotions and suspense, because you don't know what's going to happen. I was sad when I finished reading it. So my mother said that we should look for some other books that the author made. I really think that people should read The Upstairs Room,becuase they'll love it.

Set in Holland during the early 40's this first person story relates the persecution and hardships of the Jewish community under Nazi occupation. Ten-year-old Annie resents her decreasing personal freedom, diminished lifestyle, fragmented family and just generally being made to feel somehow odd in her own country. Her people are insulted, restricted, bullied, beaten and sent to "work" camps. The family unit disintegrates as Mother is hospitalized, Father goes Into Hiding in another town, and the oldest sister insists on making it on her own. The two sisters who remain together resent each other and bicker often. At great risk some courageous Dutch citizens help the persecuted family. As she contemplates her face in the mirror in the Upstairs Room, Annie wonders if she suddenly looks Jewish. Why is she, practically overnight, different from her Dutch friends?

She also faces internal struggles during the almost 3 years spent in hiding with Sini (20). In times of extreme danger the sisters rush into a special hiding place behind a closet, or else play at being moles. It's not easy for a lively youngster to become invisible, instantly, or for a prolonged period of time. She rages against her sister, but most of all against the cramped spaces, restrictions on exercise, light and fresh air. In fact Annie accidentally puts them all (including their generous host family) at risk by her immature behavior. Still the kindly farm family grows to love their girls; after the village is liberated, they all dread the inevitable separation. This story is true, written by Johanna Reiss to enlighten her own daughters about the human desire to live and enjoy life, as well as to praise the integrity of the Dutch nation. Elementary girls will sympathize with the emotional suffering of the young protagonist.

THe Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss, is the bet book I ever read. It is a historical-fiction story that won a Newbery Honor award because it teaches you a lesson. I think the lesson is to treat people the way you want to be treated. This book takes place in Holland during WWII. It is about a girl named Annie and her family who has to hide from the Germans. Annie is a ten-year-old girl who doesn't like the idea that the Nazis came to her town because now her friends won't talk to her. She is not aloud to go to school any more and she is not happy, all she wants to do is go for a long bike ride. The climax of the story was when the family had to go into hidding. When they were hidding they had to move from house to house, that made the story very suspenseful. YOu would never know if the Nazis would catch Annie's family. I also liked this book because it related to my own life (since the holocaust is part of my history).

Reading this as a seventh grade student I personaly thought it was a very well written book. It was a breath-taking, sad and happy book. There are some bad words but you have to remember this book is about the Hollocaust. It starts out when two girls get seperated from their father and older sister to go hide at someone's house that they didn't know. Now I don't want to tell you the whole book so you could either buy or borrow it from the library. If you're looking for a good book choose The Upstairs Room, and that's from a seventh grader.