Tuesday, April 14, 2015

The Secret of the Village Fool

The Secret of the Village Fool
by Rebecca Upjohn


The Secret of the Village Fool is a story about one family’s struggle to survive during the Nazi occupation of Zborów, Poland (now Ukraine). This Jewish family lived a normal life until Germany invaded Poland and the Nazi soldiers began separating families. Young Munio and Milek were forced to hide in a tunnel that was build off of the root cellar in their weird neighbour’s yard. Although the boys heard many strange stories about Anton Suchinski, they soon realized that he was a good man who risked his life to save them.


This is a powerful story for older kids and adults. The importance of being kind to everyone is strongly emphasized. The Secret of the Village Fool is a great book for anyone studying history or World War II in particular. It is not too graphic but gives a gentle sense of how difficult it must have been for the people hiding from Hitler. 


I ordered this book because I tend to order a lot from Second Story Press (an amazing publisher that prints about a variety of issues with diverse characters). I was very pleased with how it was written and the illustrations were also outstanding. This is a great book! 

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