The Upstairs Room
by Johanna Reiss
Buy on AmazonWhen the German army occupied Holland, Annie de Leeuw was eight years old. Because she was Jewish, the occupation put her in grave danger-she knew that to stay alive she would have to hide. Fortunately, a Gentile family, the Oostervelds, offered to help. For two years they hid Annie and her sister, Sini, in the cramped upstairs room of their farmhouse. Most people thought the war wouldn't last long. But for Annie and Sini -- separated from their family and confined to one tiny room -- the war seemed to go on forever.
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"Anne’s story ended tragically, but as an aside I should mention that when I was living in New York, I met a Dutch woman called Johanna Reiss. I was lucky enough to have her as my Dutch teacher, and she lived only a couple of blocks from me in the East Village. She was Jewish and had survived the war with one of her sisters by hiding with a farmer in the eastern Netherlands. Her book about that, The Upstairs Room , written for children, won a Newbery Honor. I like to think of it as Anne Frank but with a less sad ending. She also has another book, The Journey Back , about reintegrating after the war, and how weird and uncomfortable it was."
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