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23rd out of 41 books
—
119 voters
The Wrong Boy
by
Suzy Zail
The story of a Jewish girl sent to Auschwitz with her family. She falls in love with the wrong boy – the German son of the camp commander.
Hanna is a talented pianist, and the protected second daughter of middle class Hungarian Jews. Relatively late in World War II the Budapest Jews were rounded up and sent to Auschwitz. Hanna and her mother and sister are separated from he...more
Hanna is a talented pianist, and the protected second daughter of middle class Hungarian Jews. Relatively late in World War II the Budapest Jews were rounded up and sent to Auschwitz. Hanna and her mother and sister are separated from he...more
Paperback
Published
March 1st 2012
by Black Dog Books
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Suzy Zail is an Australian-born author and daughter of a Holocaust survivor. She writes this her first fictional story in the first person. Hanna Mendel, is a 15-year-old girl living with her older sister Erika and her parents in the Debrecen Jewish ghetto in Hungary. She is a good student and talented pianist who has always behaved appropriately. Her world changes when the Nazis arrive to announce that the ghetto is closing and the family will be “resettled”. After a long train journey in a cat...more
Although I found this book enjoyable it did have many lose ends that at the end of the book were left untied. You grew strong relations with the characters but at the end of the story I felt like the reader should be left more informed about what was going to happen to the girls with both the lover and the parents "presumed dead".
It would not have hurt to leave them some kind of fortune, money, family, a future. It made the book very gloomy especially with the author constantly hinting that all...more
It would not have hurt to leave them some kind of fortune, money, family, a future. It made the book very gloomy especially with the author constantly hinting that all...more
Another Holocaust book? Or another Romeo & Juliet book?
It's easy to make those glib or generalised comments, however Zail reminds us that this novel is primarily about relationships between people; complex nuances and causal factors in human behaviour, both harmful and helpful relationships, no matter what the circumstances.
I did not expect this story to impact on me in the way it did, so it shows me that there are still stories to be told about atrocities we'd rather pack away. 'Never Fall...more
It's easy to make those glib or generalised comments, however Zail reminds us that this novel is primarily about relationships between people; complex nuances and causal factors in human behaviour, both harmful and helpful relationships, no matter what the circumstances.
I did not expect this story to impact on me in the way it did, so it shows me that there are still stories to be told about atrocities we'd rather pack away. 'Never Fall...more
Part of the 2013 CBCA short-listed books for older readers. This is a story about the holocaust that is really appealing for young adults. Probably the only book on that list to fall into that category from the ones I've read so far (which is all bar one). Hanna is a Jewish girl who lives in Hungary and is transferred to Berkenau in 1944. It is just before her sixteenth birthday and she accompanies her mother, who is going mad and her sister who is older than her. She becomes the commandants pia...more
Holocaust books always make me want to cry. And yet I persist reading them. Why? Because they’re history! Because history shouldn’t be forgotten. Because terrible things have happened and shouldn’t ever happen again.
The author said this in her author’s note at the back: “I don’t pretend to know how it felt to be imprisoned in Birkenau. I don’t think anyone who wasn’t there can ever really understand. But it’s important to try. Reading history books and memoirs, talking about the Holocaust and w...more
The author said this in her author’s note at the back: “I don’t pretend to know how it felt to be imprisoned in Birkenau. I don’t think anyone who wasn’t there can ever really understand. But it’s important to try. Reading history books and memoirs, talking about the Holocaust and w...more
If the writer is good enough, an old story is successfully retold as Zail does here. After "The Boy in Striped Pyjamas" I wondered whether another story about a possibly good son of the Nazi commandant at Auschwicz could work but Zael quickly engaged me and kept me that way. It seemed to me that knowing the awful truths about the inhumanity of the Holocaust gave strength to the story. Zail bravely includes a 'capo' or block leader in the characters, otherwise the situation is the familiar one of...more
Well...the cliff hanger made me want to cry with either sadness or joy and I don't like mixed emotions...
I wish there had been more to the story, I thought it was way too short and there should've been more to the Karl and Hanna relationship
I love a good Romeo and Juliet story as much as the next girl but the cliffhanger in the end killed me!
When he called Hanna beautiful I was thinking YES ACTION WOOHHOOO!!!!!
But she totally ignored what he said which was shocking...I wish she had more of a r...more
I wish there had been more to the story, I thought it was way too short and there should've been more to the Karl and Hanna relationship
I love a good Romeo and Juliet story as much as the next girl but the cliffhanger in the end killed me!
When he called Hanna beautiful I was thinking YES ACTION WOOHHOOO!!!!!
But she totally ignored what he said which was shocking...I wish she had more of a r...more
15 year old Hannah is living in a Jewish ghetto in Hungary. She is a talented pianist, but her dreams are shattered when the Nazis arrive and close the ghetto, sending Hannah and her family to Birkenau concentration camp, Separated from her father, she watches her mother become more & more mentally ill. She is chosen to play piano for the commandant of the camp, and so in turn meets his son Karl, learning more and more about what is going on at the concentration camp, and falling for "the wr...more
I just got this book yesterday and this book is amazing. I have read this day and night, staying up till 12 at night just to read it. Suzy Zail is an amazing author and I love reading this book. I'm not finished but I'm sure I will be reading again after :)
I have now finished the book during class and I have to say it was amazing and I nearly cried :'(
The one thing I wished that if she told me of her and Karl ever meet again or if she ever got a reply from the letter
Apart from that it was fanta...more
I have now finished the book during class and I have to say it was amazing and I nearly cried :'(
The one thing I wished that if she told me of her and Karl ever meet again or if she ever got a reply from the letter
Apart from that it was fanta...more
Hanna Mendel has a dream to follow in the footsteps of her musical muse, Clara Schumann, the celebrated German pianist. Hanna is only fifteen, and already her musical talents have seen her debut at the Debrecen Town Hall and play at the Goldmark Hall. By eighteen, Hanna hopes to shadow Clara and be playing to sell-out crowds in Vienna . . . then Hitler and the war came to Hungary, and everything changed.
Hanna and her family have been living in a ghetto; sectioned off with other Juden (Jews), and...more
Hanna and her family have been living in a ghetto; sectioned off with other Juden (Jews), and...more
A very good example of young adult Holocaust fiction, told with sensitivity. Hanna is a good student who dreams of becoming a concert pianist when she, her parents, and her sister are sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. She becomes the pianist for the Commander, a terrible man who treats the Jews in his service despicably and with contempt. His son, Karl, is 'The Wrong Boy'. A story of the importance of family, kindness, and love almost as much as it is a story of the horror of the Holocaust. I would re...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Jul 08, 2012
emslibbooks
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
belonging,
fiction,
discrimination,
families,
friendship,
jewish_issues,
historical,
holocaust,
grief,
love,
sad_stories,
nazism,
prejudice,
relationships,
mystery,
young_adult,
torture,
war,
survival
Just not sure about the whole romance aspect of it. Firstly, how could he feel so much for her in the state she must have been in. One can understand his actions to help prisoners in the camp but the relationship seems a bit of a dream and maybe a bad dream. I'm not sure how survivors would have felt reading something like this. Maybe betrayal as Erika mentions and certainly how the others feel about Hannah. Quite graphic in e early parts and definitely not suitable for under Year 7.
This didn't have quite the charm of Once & Then but was still a touching story. This one follows a teenage girl into Birkenau and details her life in the concentration camp and her way out - playing piano for the local commandant, falling in love with his son in the process. Again, a thoughtful representation of the holocaust.
Any writing about Auschwitz will always be harrowing, but meant that much more to me after visiting there last year. Vividly told from the perspective of Hanna, a 16yo gifted musical student, and targeted to a secondary school audience, she discovers that not all Germans believed in the Nazi cause.
It's unimaginable to me that people can be so inhumane to each other. I find this sort of horror difficult to read, much less accept.
The author's note tells us why it is important for us to revisit these atrocities, and I believe her. I really do.
Well written, powerful and confronting.
The author's note tells us why it is important for us to revisit these atrocities, and I believe her. I really do.
Well written, powerful and confronting.
A haunting story, beautifully told. A terrible insight into the suffering of the Jews during the Second World War, narrated in a clear voice by Hanna. Full of inhumanity, sadness and suffering, but also with hope. A good addition to the genre - I will be recommending it to my students.
I really really liked this book, the ending was quite unexpected I didn't think it would end that way. I have always been interested at reading about WW2 but they have always been books of the slaves not someone like Hanna who was a different kind of slave. overall it was a really good book.
Although it is YA fiction it is a long time since I finished any book within 24 hours. For those who think there couldn't possibly be any more stories to tell from the holocaust Suzy Zail proves them wrong.
This is a really well written book about love, Lost and and over-coming strength to fight for what you want. I really enjoyed reading it.
the begin was alright, i guess, it's just the ending that bothers me(i wont spoil any:D)Overall i'll give it a 3.50
Beautiful, heartbreaking book. Would be excellent for young adult readers or confident Yr 6. Was a beautiful book about a young jewish girl falling in love with a young german boy, whos father runs the concentration camp, Hanna and her family have been sent to. A sad but must read story for the young and older reader.
A great book but depressing as it is about the holocaust.
so far so good
Hated the ending
Fantastic Book. Would be an excellent class read aloud book also for senior students. Beautiful story told with honesty and love of family. An incredibly sad story, that needs to be told. Lovely Book.
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A quick read. Simple. Something you can read in the toilet whilst constipated.
4&1/2 stars, and 3 tissues.
I really enjoyed this book..... But that ending just killed me. Sigh. But this is a must read,I guarantee that you won't regret reading this.
it was honest and it was great, and you just know that in the end she will have a happy ending
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Suzy Zail was born in 1966 in Melbourne, and has worked as a solicitor specialising in litigation. After the birth of her first child, Suzy left the law to concentrate on writing. Suzy has written for magazines, and is the author of award-winning children’s books. Her children’s fiction has been published in Australia, Canada, and the United States.
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