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jayce's review
4.0
Genre: historical
AR level: 4.1
Grade appropriate: 4th and up
RATING BREAKDOWN:
Overall: 4/5-- great introduction to the holocaust. Will get kids interested in the topic and they'll read more about it. Odette was sheltered from most of the horrors of WWII.
Creativity: 4/5-- this book is based on a true story but is a unique perspective.
Characters: 5/5-- I loved Odette & really connected with her. Her mother was wonderful in the beginning but as the war wore on she became bitter & less loving. I think that's probably pretty realistic.
Engrossing: 5/5-- it's an easy read & most kids can get through it quickly before their attention wanes.
Writing: 4/5
Appeal to kids: 5/5-- the kids in my library have really liked it. They come in requesting more about Jews in WWII.
Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5
CONTENT:
Language: none
Sexuality: none
Violence: mild-- war is distant & not witnessed first hand. Odette does get mistreated by classmates because she's a Jew.
Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- Odette's godmother offers "drink" to German soldiers to distract them from looking for her.
AR level: 4.1
Grade appropriate: 4th and up
RATING BREAKDOWN:
Overall: 4/5-- great introduction to the holocaust. Will get kids interested in the topic and they'll read more about it. Odette was sheltered from most of the horrors of WWII.
Creativity: 4/5-- this book is based on a true story but is a unique perspective.
Characters: 5/5-- I loved Odette & really connected with her. Her mother was wonderful in the beginning but as the war wore on she became bitter & less loving. I think that's probably pretty realistic.
Engrossing: 5/5-- it's an easy read & most kids can get through it quickly before their attention wanes.
Writing: 4/5
Appeal to kids: 5/5-- the kids in my library have really liked it. They come in requesting more about Jews in WWII.
Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5
CONTENT:
Language: none
Sexuality: none
Violence: mild-- war is distant & not witnessed first hand. Odette does get mistreated by classmates because she's a Jew.
Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- Odette's godmother offers "drink" to German soldiers to distract them from looking for her.
alexalovesbooks's review
4.0
[Originally posted on the blog]
It's always interesting to dip into historical fiction, especially when it's written to cater to a younger audience. Odette's Secrets was a sweetly told fictional account of Odette Meyer's experience as a Jew in the time of World War II. What made it unique was the fact that it was written in verse, a type of writing that I haven't had that much experience with. Macdonald managed to write an account that was easy to relate to and informative, and I think a lot of readers will like this one.
The fact that it's a verse novel really caught me off guard when I started this novel. Once I finished, I realized that being told in verse suited the story well. The passages were short, and so Macdonald had to take care to choose the right words to properly convey Odette's feelings and experiences. It became an easy read for me due to its brevity, which I'm sure other readers will appreciate. But the best part about it being in verse is that we are allowed to imagine for ourselves the extra details that would have been in a narrative account (or at least I did).
Odette began the story as very much a child, and there was definitely an authenticity to the language chosen for the verses. Her voice transforms over the course of the novel as she experiences the heartache and heartbreak that the war brings into her life, and she ends the novel older and more mature. Even though the verses only give us glimpses into moments of her life, there's a strong sense of who she is - innocent, kind, loving to her family and friends, curious, intelligent and even confused by the circumstances she faces at times. While she certainly had to learn to live on her own strength, it's a pleasure to see that Odette manages to retain some optimism up until the end of this novel.
Her story really is incredible, and Macdonald took care to pay tribute to that. Readers will see a lot of the things that happened to her - the hard stuff, the bad stuff and the good stuff. Even though there are certainly bits and pieces that were dreamed up, it is not hard to believe that the foundation of this story is the truth about Odette's life.
Reading about historical facts, like the Jews who were either in hiding or captured and sent to camps, was so heartbreaking. The novel bears witness to families torn apart and friends turning into enemies, and it affected me deeply. Thinking about this period of time always leaves me feeling heartbroken at the cruelty that the Jews endured, but it also reminds me of their resilience and strength and hope too.
Odette's Secrets is a wonderful free verse historical fiction novel for young readers. While readers don't learn the facts and figures of World War 2, they do get to experience the effects of that time through the eyes of a child. Using verse to write this story was a unique choice, and I found that it worked tremendously well for me as a reader.
It's always interesting to dip into historical fiction, especially when it's written to cater to a younger audience. Odette's Secrets was a sweetly told fictional account of Odette Meyer's experience as a Jew in the time of World War II. What made it unique was the fact that it was written in verse, a type of writing that I haven't had that much experience with. Macdonald managed to write an account that was easy to relate to and informative, and I think a lot of readers will like this one.
The fact that it's a verse novel really caught me off guard when I started this novel. Once I finished, I realized that being told in verse suited the story well. The passages were short, and so Macdonald had to take care to choose the right words to properly convey Odette's feelings and experiences. It became an easy read for me due to its brevity, which I'm sure other readers will appreciate. But the best part about it being in verse is that we are allowed to imagine for ourselves the extra details that would have been in a narrative account (or at least I did).
Odette began the story as very much a child, and there was definitely an authenticity to the language chosen for the verses. Her voice transforms over the course of the novel as she experiences the heartache and heartbreak that the war brings into her life, and she ends the novel older and more mature. Even though the verses only give us glimpses into moments of her life, there's a strong sense of who she is - innocent, kind, loving to her family and friends, curious, intelligent and even confused by the circumstances she faces at times. While she certainly had to learn to live on her own strength, it's a pleasure to see that Odette manages to retain some optimism up until the end of this novel.
Her story really is incredible, and Macdonald took care to pay tribute to that. Readers will see a lot of the things that happened to her - the hard stuff, the bad stuff and the good stuff. Even though there are certainly bits and pieces that were dreamed up, it is not hard to believe that the foundation of this story is the truth about Odette's life.
Reading about historical facts, like the Jews who were either in hiding or captured and sent to camps, was so heartbreaking. The novel bears witness to families torn apart and friends turning into enemies, and it affected me deeply. Thinking about this period of time always leaves me feeling heartbroken at the cruelty that the Jews endured, but it also reminds me of their resilience and strength and hope too.
Odette's Secrets is a wonderful free verse historical fiction novel for young readers. While readers don't learn the facts and figures of World War 2, they do get to experience the effects of that time through the eyes of a child. Using verse to write this story was a unique choice, and I found that it worked tremendously well for me as a reader.
txkatlovesbooks's review
4.0
Beautifully written, almost lyrical in the images it paints in your mind.
literacydocent's review
3.0
Set during WWII this novel in verse tells the true story of Odette Meyer's childhood experience in France. While there are some intense parts, this is a more gentle account that will appeal to younger readers. I also LOVED the cover. I did feel the format just didn't work for this story. There were so many places that it felt rushed and disjointed. I will add it to my classroom collection, but having read so many books set during this time period this one just wasn't a stand out for me personally.
bdietrich's review
4.0
Read for 5420 class
A novel told in free verse of Odette's childhood as a Jew growing up in Paris in WWII. Eventually, she -and later her mother- go into hiding in the French countryside. There. Odette must wear the disguise of a French Catholic. Upon her return to Paris after the war, Odette struggles with her identity, and, in particular, her faith.
Based on the real Odette's life, this story is an excellent companion to Night and The Diary of Anne Frank for middle grade readers.
A novel told in free verse of Odette's childhood as a Jew growing up in Paris in WWII. Eventually, she -and later her mother- go into hiding in the French countryside. There. Odette must wear the disguise of a French Catholic. Upon her return to Paris after the war, Odette struggles with her identity, and, in particular, her faith.
Based on the real Odette's life, this story is an excellent companion to Night and The Diary of Anne Frank for middle grade readers.
tashrow's review
4.0
This true story of a young Jewish girl growing up in Nazi-occupied Paris is told in verse. Odette’s father is sent to a Nazi work camp and her mother works hard to protect Odette. As the Jews in Paris are steadily more badly treated, Odette has to wear a yellow star on her clothing and is unwelcome in many places in the city. Even at school, Odette is bullied for being Jewish. When their apartment is raided in the middle of the night, Odette and her mother hide in their landlady’s cupboard. After that, Odette is sent to the country to live. There she learns to pretend to be Christian so that she isn’t discovered. When her mother is forced to flee Paris, the two of them move together to live in the French countryside as peasants, but Nazis and bigotry are never far behind. Odette learns that sometimes secrets are vital to survival and just as hard to stop keeping as they are to keep.
Macdonald writes in her author’s note about the inspiration for creating a children’s book that tells the story of the real Odette. It is interesting to learn about the transition from straight nonfiction to a verse novel. I’m so pleased that the end result was this novel in free verse, because Macdonald writes verse with a wonderful eye to both the story she is telling and the poetry itself. She truly creates the scenes of Paris and the French countryside in her poems, making each place special and amazing.
Perhaps most amazing is Odette herself, a protagonist living in a brutal and complicated time, forced to lie to stay alive. Odette has to learn to deal with the fear she lives in every day, something that no one should have to get used to. There was the fear of slipping and telling the secrets she held but also the fear that someone could figure out they were Jewish without any slip from Odette. Macdonald creates quite a dramatic series of events that point out that Odette was terrified for very good reason.
Beautiful verse combined with a true story of a young girl World War II France makes this a very successful book that cuts right to the heart and lays all its secrets bare. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
Macdonald writes in her author’s note about the inspiration for creating a children’s book that tells the story of the real Odette. It is interesting to learn about the transition from straight nonfiction to a verse novel. I’m so pleased that the end result was this novel in free verse, because Macdonald writes verse with a wonderful eye to both the story she is telling and the poetry itself. She truly creates the scenes of Paris and the French countryside in her poems, making each place special and amazing.
Perhaps most amazing is Odette herself, a protagonist living in a brutal and complicated time, forced to lie to stay alive. Odette has to learn to deal with the fear she lives in every day, something that no one should have to get used to. There was the fear of slipping and telling the secrets she held but also the fear that someone could figure out they were Jewish without any slip from Odette. Macdonald creates quite a dramatic series of events that point out that Odette was terrified for very good reason.
Beautiful verse combined with a true story of a young girl World War II France makes this a very successful book that cuts right to the heart and lays all its secrets bare. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
kellyhager's review
4.0
This is such a sad story. It's not as sad as it could be, obviously---Odette and her mom survive the war, which means that she's better off than a lot of others---but still. This isn't THAT far in the past, not really, and while I like to think that we've grown better as a species, I also know better.
The Holocaust is such a hard subject to write about, and I'm sure it's hard to tell these stories---they're so awful that it's hard to believe. (Note: I'm not a Holocaust denier at all. Those people are crazy and horrible.) What Maryann Macdonald has done is take one person's story and tell that. Odette is probably a fairly typical girl and so it's easy to identify her, even as we understand that her story is not a universal one.
This is an easy read (chapters are short, and the verse format makes it something that readers are likely to finish in a few hours) but it's not a particularly fun one. (So "easy" is probably the wrong word.)
But this is such an important book. Recommended.
The Holocaust is such a hard subject to write about, and I'm sure it's hard to tell these stories---they're so awful that it's hard to believe. (Note: I'm not a Holocaust denier at all. Those people are crazy and horrible.) What Maryann Macdonald has done is take one person's story and tell that. Odette is probably a fairly typical girl and so it's easy to identify her, even as we understand that her story is not a universal one.
This is an easy read (chapters are short, and the verse format makes it something that readers are likely to finish in a few hours) but it's not a particularly fun one. (So "easy" is probably the wrong word.)
But this is such an important book. Recommended.
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