In Paris during World War II, a Jewish family lives in the Pletzl – the enclave where Jewish families were made to live by German soldiers. Miriam, or Miri to her family, is a 12-year-old who’s afraid she lacks the necessary courage to survive the war. When Jewish families are forced out of the Pletzl, she’s separated from her parents, not knowing if they’re still alive. Miri, her neighbour and baby daughter, Nora, are herded towards a bus. Miri is given the baby to safeguard, and she’s told to run and take Nora to Zurich, in Switzerland.
They run, and are almost captured before being rescued by a Catholic nun who hides Miri’s Jewishness by giving her the name Marie. Miri/Marie and Nora are sent to Chenonceau. Marie is housed in a school run by nuns. Sisters Dominique and Annunciata look after Marie, but Nora, being too young for school, is given to a local family. Marie discovers that the two nuns are secretly part of a resistance movement.
There’s a castle near the school, owned by the cantankerous Mme. Simone, and guarded by German soldiers. Importantly, the castle serves as a bridge across a river to unoccupied (free) France.
Marie plots her escape with Nora, but those plans are interrupted by an injury to Sister Dominique.
Marie offers to take her place, helping to smuggle refugees across the river to safety. Marie’s two new school friends, Beatrice and Jacqueline, wonder why Marie is often out all night. Will her Jewishness be uncovered? Just who is Mme. Simone? Will Miri be able to take Nora to Zurich?
The Night War is a wonderful tale of courage, narrated with passion and skill.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
Age Guide 10+
Read an interview with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1967. I loved to read—I was the sort of kid who would skip recess to go talk with my school librarian—but I didn’t know any writers, and I didn’t think it was the sort of job I could have. I loved chemistry, too, and I majored in chemistry in college. I was lucky, though, to go to Smith, a liberal arts school where I was encouraged to learn everything that interested me, and I took lots of writing classes, and, fortunately, a class on children’s literature taught by none other than Newbery medalist Patricia MacLachlan. She and Jane Yolen, who ran a writer’s group nearby, encouraged my very early (and very bad!) efforts.
I married my high-school sweetheart, and he started medical school. For awhile I worked as a research chemist and wrote stories late at night and on weekends. But I realized I really wanted to be a writer. By the time I was pregnant with our son I was getting enough freelance and ghostwriting jobs that I could quit being a chemist. A few years later, my husband finished his training to become an eye surgeon, and we moved so he could join a practice in Bristol, Tennessee. I was pregnant with my second child, our daughter, and my first book, Ruthie’s Gift, was under contract. It was a pretty exciting time.
Now my children are grown. My husband and I are still in Bristol, where we live on a 52-acre farm with an assortment of horses, two dogs, and too many cats. We love to travel, and I especially love learning about history from all over the world. My most recent book, The Night War (April 9, 2024), is my twentieth published book. I am so grateful that I get to spend my life doing what I love to do.
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