Girl in the Blue Coat

Impeccably researched and beautifully written, this unforgettable World War II novel about a young Dutch smuggler's life-changing decision to find a missing Jewish girl is poignant and fascinating. The plot is unputdownable: a mix of emotional coming-of-age revelations plus the intense realities and horrors of WWII and the riveting central mystery of what happened to Mirjam. Readers will feel compelled to keep going, as Hannie digs herself deeper into the dangerous waters of resistance work, discovering exactly what's happening at Amsterdam's legendary Schouwburg Theater, which imprisons Dutch Jews awaiting deportation. When she first walks into the Schouwburg, with memories of the last time she saw a show there, she's immediately overwhelmed by the terrifying reality of what the Nazis are doing.

Although there are definitely painful and disturbing passages, the author's prose is crisp and accessible to younger readers. The language is artful without being flowery, and the plot is layered without being convoluted. Even adult readers will learn a great deal about the Dutch role in the war as an occupied country with a mostly Aryan populace the Nazis felt could be assimilated into German culture. Hesse contextualizes various aspects of Dutch responses to the war, from the young woman who falls in love and marries a Nazi (and therefore betters her station) to the black market smugglers to the onderduikers and student resistance workers who did everything from help people go into hiding to try to save Jewish children by having them secretly adopted by well-meaning gentiles. This is the ideal book for a parent-child read-along, an extracurricular book club, summer school reading, or simply the pleasure of a book that entertains, expands your horizons, and teaches you all at once.