Trapped Inside the Story

by Leslie Cohen

The 1941. The Lvov, Poland. The fear palpable. To be Jewish in this time and place is to be the prey; the hunted. Entire families disappeared overnight never to be seen again. Hitler's regime hijacked and took possession of homes and businesses, leaving others penniless. Nazi soldiers roamed the streets, mercilessly rounding up innocent civilians. This was the harsh reality Jewish families faced in Poland during the Holocaust. This was no place for a child to fend for herself and avoid certain death. While museums and historians have carefully documented the Holocaust atrocities, one of the most harrowing descriptions of the Nazi occupation comes from the voice of a child, Sonya Hebenstreit. Sonya lost her entire family in a six-month period and was forced to rely on her wits and instincts to stay alive during one of the darkest eras of human history. Cohen chronicles Sonya's struggle to survive in her new book, Trapped Inside the Story.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2007

Reviews

[Mindy]

I enjoyed reading this book. I'm always wary of reading a WWII holocaust book - some are too graphic, and others are too depressing for me. This one was neither, and I think any age from 10+ would profit from reading it.

This book is based on a true story about a little Polish girl (Sonya) just before the war and during the Russian and German occupation of Poland. It is written from her perspective as a child, and the writing reflects that - simple and straight forward. Not a lot of embellishment. Even though it isn't full of detail, it does adequately (at least for me) portray many of the emotions that a young child would experience during that time: fear, confusion, abandonment, conflict, worry, questioning, unexpected friendship, courage, determination, hope, etc.

I appreciate that Sonya stays true to herself and her faith, even though she's forced to make some very difficult decisions which may seem to be the opposite of what she's been taught.

I love the title of the book! I'll let you read it to find out why the title is so appropriate.

[Becky]

You may think you have already read stories of holocaust survivors...not like this one. This is a biography of a little girl, Sonya, and her struggle to survive after losing her whole family. She loved fairy tales and those scary stories helped her keep hope and her conversations with those characters kept her alive. It is interesting to see the war through the eyes of a child. A remarkable true story about an amazing woman who survived and immigrated to Israel.

[Lisa]

Once you get past the simplistic and somewhat repetitive language of this book, it really is very engrossing. This should be a must read for young adults just for the historical aspect of the book and the fact that it is written simply enough to be understood. It is one of those reads where you know it is going to be sad but much like the author states, you get trapped inside the story.

[Jennifer]

Almost done with this one. So good. Wow. Amazing story. Very much has an Anne Frank feel. There's a great author introduction and excerpt reading of this book on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK72ui...