odette’s secret :: book review

In 2014 I took a 50 book challenge. I ended up reading 55, but there was a mad dash there at the end. The other part of the challenge for me was to branch out of my favorite genres and try out something new. Guess what? I love historical fiction and never knew it until now! Odette’s Secret is a novel based on the real-life story of a young Jewish girl, Odette Meyers, living in Paris as the Nazis began to invade and take over.

The first Odette really hears about the Nazis comes when her family is at the cinema and see a newsreel about Hitler. Her father rushes out of the theater and they walk home. The next day she and her mother are walking home and see the shattered windows of a furniture store owned by a Jewish family. That is just the beginning of many things Odette will see in the coming weeks and years. You know how the story goes, but Odette’s story takes a unique look at life as a Jewish child hiding in plain sight. Only 8 years old, Odette finds herself on a farm living with a Christian family while her father is in the French army and her mother joins the Resistance.

This is an easy book to read but it also a hard book to read. It’s written in a free-flowing poetry style that makes it easy for young readers to take in while still being interesting and keeping a good pace for more advanced readers. The hard part comes when the topics it raises brings the horror of those times to life. My daughter is 8. She and I both have found ourselves putting her into Odette’s shoes and many a tear has been shed. I’m thankful for books like these that can take a terrible time in history and make it relatable for children (and adults, really). For our family, it has been a catalyst for several in-depth conversations about hatred and racism, about choices we make when there are no right answers, about how people recover and rebuild a life when their whole world has been snatched from under their feet.

If you’re interested in reading the first 6 chapters for free, find the “Free Chapters” tab on the book’s facebook page. (To read the chapters, you’ll have to click on the tiny icon on the top left of that screen). There is also a Teacher’s Guide if you are interested introducing this to students. It is aligned with common core standards.