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ljrinaldi's review against another edition
4.0
So, so timely. The story of refugees that no one would let in sounds like something from todays news, but this was 1947 and no one wanted the Jews. It may seem hard to believe that this people were refused refuge, but that was the way in was in 1947, when Israel didn't even exist yet, and yet that is where these people wanted to go, Palestine. But the British controlled it, and would let no new refugees in.
The book is written with a middle-school audience in mind, and is a truthful fictionalized telling of the Exodus 1947, the ship filled with Jewish refugees from all over Europe. They had survived the war, but now had no place to call home. Much of the information for this book comes from, of course, the refugees themselves, but there was an American reporter that followed the ship and wrote about this, Ruth Gruber.
Using photos, real photos, of the ship and the passengers, this is an engaging tale. Good book for the classroom. Definitely a book that should be given to all, to get background on how refugees have been treated in the past.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
The book is written with a middle-school audience in mind, and is a truthful fictionalized telling of the Exodus 1947, the ship filled with Jewish refugees from all over Europe. They had survived the war, but now had no place to call home. Much of the information for this book comes from, of course, the refugees themselves, but there was an American reporter that followed the ship and wrote about this, Ruth Gruber.
Using photos, real photos, of the ship and the passengers, this is an engaging tale. Good book for the classroom. Definitely a book that should be given to all, to get background on how refugees have been treated in the past.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
heykellyjensen's review against another edition
Yet another piece of World War II history that I never knew about: the Exodus situation. The ship was a mission to move Jewish refugees from Britain to Palestine in a way that would allow them their freedom in a new state; in this situation, though, the ship wasn't allowed to pass through (it was a secret mission, after all) and thus, weeks of being transported throughout parts of Europe where Jewish refugees were not welcome. This particular story focuses on one girl, Rachel, and her experiences aboard the Exodus.
A super fascinating story, though it's lacking in good writing. I found the fake conversations to be more irritating than inviting and didn't add much to the overall story. I find this such a tricky choice in narrative nonfiction, since it's not real dialog unless it's been pulled from a recording (which, just from reading it here, isn't). Likewise, it's a really neat bow at the end of the package here that felt too neat and tidy. It was the author's note that added some really great context for the "after," and I wish more of that had been in-text.
The pictures here are solid, which added a whole additional level of horror to the book. Related: I want a story about Ruth Gruber, the American journalist busting ass to share these stories with US readers and being the kind of reporter doing her job being on top of the bs policies actively harming the lives of other people.
A super fascinating story, though it's lacking in good writing. I found the fake conversations to be more irritating than inviting and didn't add much to the overall story. I find this such a tricky choice in narrative nonfiction, since it's not real dialog unless it's been pulled from a recording (which, just from reading it here, isn't). Likewise, it's a really neat bow at the end of the package here that felt too neat and tidy. It was the author's note that added some really great context for the "after," and I wish more of that had been in-text.
The pictures here are solid, which added a whole additional level of horror to the book. Related: I want a story about Ruth Gruber, the American journalist busting ass to share these stories with US readers and being the kind of reporter doing her job being on top of the bs policies actively harming the lives of other people.
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