Ruth and the Night of Broken Glass: A World War II Survival Story

Girls Survive

by Emma Carlson Berne

In the late summer and early fall of 1938, ten-year-old Ruth Block, along with her father, mother, and best friend, Miriam, must navigate the increasing pressure placed on the Jewish population in Frankfurt, Germany. Ruth grows more worried by the day. Her father's stationery store is shut down; she and Miriam are belittled on the street; their school is closed. Then one night in November, the family's apartment is broken into. Ruth's father is dragged into the square and arrested, along with hundreds of other Jewish men. Ruth, her family, her friends, and her community struggle to survive the fiery night and the terrifying, uncertain future ahead of them. Featuring nonfiction support material, a glossary, and reader response questions, this Girls Survive story takes readers to Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, one of history's most important moments.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Survival, Historical, Holocaust, Fiction, Childrens

103 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2019

About the author

Emma Carlson Berne is the author of the YA thrillers STILL WATERS and NEVER LET YOU GO (coming Fall 2012 from Simon & Schuster). She has also written the thrillers FIGMENT and CHOKER under the pen name Elizabeth Woods. She lives and writes in Cincinnati. Learn more about Emma and contact her directly at her website, www.emmacarlsonberne.com. Or check out Emma Carlson Berne Books on http://www.facebook.com/EmmaCarlsonBe... or follow her on Twitter.

Reviews

[Panda Incognito · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few days ago, I picked up this and another Girls Survive title at the library to give this series a try. Yesterday, I realized that today would be 11/9, the eighty-third anniversary of Kristallnacht. I was glad to have the opportunity to read this book to honor the anniversary, and am thankful that the timing worked out.

This book is just over a hundred pages long, but it is incredibly powerful and intense. The story follows the experiences of Ruth, a young Jewish girl who lives in Frankfurt, Germany, and the book is incredibly historically accurate. The dialogue is sometimes written in more modern vernacular, but the book presents the true events of Kristallnacht with vivid, accurate detail, and the fictionalized elements of the story all ring true to real people's experiences. Ruth's responses to injustice are also incredibly realistic, and I identified with the character because of her intense anger and desire to fight.

Even though this book is phenomenal, it will be too distressing for some children in the target audience. It is VERY intense, with social ostracizing, hate-filled vandalism, multiple physical assaults, and terror attacks against Jewish homes and synagogues playing out on the page in vivid detail. It also includes family separation as Ruth's father is rounded up into a concentration camp and her mother sends her away to England on the Kindertransport. This book is a very realistic, accurate introduction to the trauma that Jewish people experienced at this hinge-point in time, and the author vividly portrays the conflict that families experienced over what to do in response to escalating acts of prejudice and terror, but the absolute and unfiltered reality of this will be too much for some children.

I would encourage parents of sensitive children to preview this for their kids or read it along with them, but I would highly recommend this book to kids, teenagers, and adults. Even though this will be a quick read for people beyond the target audience, the story is very heavy and invites the reader to bear witness to historical tragedies and acts of hatred in a way that is genuinely meaningful and not sensationalized. The book also includes a note at the end where the author shares additional details, photographs, and a map, and mentions which specific elements of Ruth's story she took from survivors' testimonies. My only critique of this book is that it would have been nice to have an epilogue that indicated what happened to Ruth during and after the war, but this is an incredibly strong, accurate, and moving historical novel, and I highly recommend it.

[Jennybeast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something about this one is a little more viscerally disturbing than the other books in the series thus far. More direct violence -- Ruth is directly attacked and thrown through a window. Also, her defiance is so ineffective -- which makes for an effective story, because it creates a feeling of helplessness in the readers, something the author heard repeatedly from the people who's experience she based her book on. This is a grimmer story than the other two, but Ruth is a likable and relateable character.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish this series had been around when I was a kid. I would have been an avid reader. Someone on a forum brought the Girls Survive books to my attention. A quick read, obviously, since it’s written for younger readers, but so well done.

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Just…wow.
A short book written for a middle-grade audience, but one that packs a punch. I had tears in my eyes for a lot of it.
Through the eyes and voice of Ruth, a young Jewish-German girl, the reader will experience the terror of November 9, 1938. As the author explains in the end notes, Kristallnacht, or Night of Broken Glass, was really the beginning of the serious persecution of Jews. Until that night of the destruction of Jewish homes, synagogues, and businesses, many people had thought the Nazis had done the worst they would do. After November 10th, it became much more difficult for Jewish citizens to leave, but the necessity was alarmingly clear…

A great historical fiction series for middle-grade readers, guaranteed to spark their interest in history!

[Gullis lästips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Det här är en bok som tar oss tillbaka till historiens mörkaste händelser - Förintelsen.

Boken ingår i den fristående bokserien "Överlevarna" som berättar om avgörande händelser i vår historia som berättas utifrån en flickas perspektiv. Böckerna belyser de hjälteroller som flickor och kvinnor har spelat i olika historiska händelser.

I boken "Lea och Kristallnatten" får läsaren utifrån flickan Leas utsatthet, mod och förtvivlan leva sig in i det som blir avgörandet till Förintelsen - Kristallnatten.

Det här är en fängslande och känslosam läsupplevelse som tillgängliggör historien på ett lätt och engagerade sätt utifrån ett barns perspektiv, något som gör boken extra stark och får mig att ta del av boken med en klump i magen och tårar i ögonen.

Det här är en riktig bladvändare, perfekt för motvilliga läsare eller älskare av historisk spänning av alla kön.

Boken hanterar utmanande och ett viktigt ämne med ärlighet och respekt för läsaren och ämnet, utan att vara överväldigande eller skrämmande.

Om ni har ett barn i åldrarna 9 till 12 år som letar en snabb men upplysande läsning som aldrig kommer tråka ut läsare då är det här en passande bok att läsa som alla andra böcker i bokserien "Överlevarna". Men om ni får era barn att läsa böckerna var då beredd att prata om böckernas händelser efteråt, då böckernas starka svartvita bilder och händelser förstärker handlingen.

Att läsa en bok om krig kan vara ett sätt att bearbeta oro och rädsla. Avståndet i tid bidrar till en distans som gör det möjligt att närma sig det svåra utan att det blir övermäktigt.

Här kan minsta del av den fullständiga bokrecensionen: https://www.gullislastips.se/2023/01/...

[Bibliotekstanten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serien Överlevarna är egentligen inte en serie i konventionell bemärkelse. Det är olika författare och olika handling. Det böckerna har gemensamt är att de tar avstamp i en verklig händelse som tsunamin 2004, förlisningen av Titanic eller i den här fallet Kristallnatten. Huvudpersonerna är alltid barn (alltid flickor) och ambitionen är så klart att levandegöra historia.

Lea bor i Frankfurt och året är 1938. Hon och bästisen Miriam är judinnor och Miriams pappa är rabbin i en av Frankfurts synagogor. Under några dagar i november faller hela Leas liv samman. Hon och andra judar får inte längre handla i affärerna, gå i skolan eller umgås med "vanliga tyskar". Trakasserier och skadegörelse blir judars vardag och allt når sin kulmen under Kristallnatten.

Kristallnatten eller novemberpogromen som den numera även kallas, var natten mellan 9 november och 10 november 1938 då många judars affärer, hus och synagogor förstördes i hela Nazityskland. I efterordet skriver författaren: "...krossade så många fönster att gatorna var täckta med krossat glas, likt kristaller. Folkmassan brände ner 267 synagogor. Fler än 7500 judiska affärer blev förstörda och plundrade."

Jag ska bokprata om andra världskriget om några veckor. Det behöver finnas en hel del lättläst med och Lea och Kristallnatten kändes självklar att ha med. Rent litterärt lämnar boken kanske en del att önska, men ämnet trumfar den här gången. Vi får aldrig glömma och skönlitteratur är ett fantastiskt sätt att måla upp världskrigets alla fasor.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is written by my 9yo daughter:

I like the book a lot, but when it got to the end it didn’t really tell the end of the story. I wish it was longer or there was a second book. I want to know if Ruth sees her family or best friend again. I also want to know how she is doing after getting off the train. Where does she she live? Does she like it in her new home? I wish I could have given half stars because I would have given it 2.5 stars because of the ending.

[Joey Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the course of a couple days Ruth goes from a happy little Jewish girl to fearing everything around her. Ruth was so incredibly brave, so many times I wanted to tell her to stop, to not do what her brain is telling her to do. That she needs to stay put and not do it, but she did it over and over again showing so much bravery. The ending didn’t have the ending I was expecting for her story. Though I was sad we don’t know her best friend Miriam’s story ending, we can imagine what exactly would have happed though.

This was heartbreaking, i know so much about world war 2 but I don’t believe I ever knew about the events that happened within this story. I knew these things happened but not that on a particular night in Germany. The SA stormtroopers started to attack, burning everything they could, rounding up the Jewish people, beating, humiliating and in some cases killing them. All the synagogues got burnt to ashes as a mob of people watched and started to etch on the fight.

This is incredibly sad and heartbreaking story, the start of the war, the starts of the attacks on the Jewish people. Innocent lives taken, torn apparent and everything destroyed. My heart hurt the entire time reading, the tears fell multiple times reading and this piece of history will always be scary, sad and incredibly devastating thing to read about.

I will say that the author wrote this so well, she put so much precision into the story, lots of care and you felt you were there with Ruth witness in it all. The illustrations were great to look at though not always easy to look at at the very same time. We have a detailed additional facts section in the back of the book which I love reading, giving some ore insight to the events encountered within the pages. A very great book but a very sad story.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruth is happy with her life in Frankfurt. But as her Jewish family and community face increasing hatred and violence, they are shocked and don't know what to do.

Emma Carlson Berne did quite a bit of research for this book and most of Ruth's actions and what happens to her and her family and friends are based on real stories of what happened to kids and Jewish families during the days leading up to Kristallnacht and during it. Ruth is a spunky main character, ready to try and take down the entire Nazi force all on her own, but that gets her in trouble more than once. This is the most violent of the Girls Survive stories I've read, but that said, a story of Kristallnacht could've been way more violent and bloody. (Ruth doesn't witness anyone actually killed, which is pretty tame for a middle grade story set in Nazi Germany.) I've read other retellings of Kristallnacht that resonated with me more, but none aimed at middle graders. Hand this to middle graders who never seem to be able to get enough WWII stories.

Notes on content: Ruth faces some verbal/racial bullying. No sexual content. Several people are beaten up, thrown through glass windows, etc but no one is killed. Belongings of Jews are mangled and burned.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story of a young girl who is living her life as usual in Frankfurt Germany on the verge of World War II. One day she is sent to the grocery store where her family usually shops. But the owner who usually recognizes her as a neighbor greets her with the warning that she cannot come to the shop any more because she is a Jew. While she tries to make sense of this sudden and unexpected change, more changes start happening quickly around her. They involve threats and violence against her people, and she and her best friend mainly try to survive and worry about the survival of their family members. Will they? Can they? That is the question.

I felt like this was an introduction into a topic for elementary students, inviting them to look deeper at some point. World War I and II are a topic of interest in the Library where I work. Age-appropriateness has to be factored into consideration, of course. I did feel, however, the characters were one-dimensional, taking their places on the stage as props, but perhaps that is as deep as an author dares to go when writing this story for young children. When they are older, they can read stories that expose more of the realities, and provide more of the workings of the minds of the characters or actual persons in the story.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written book that really gets into a lot of the emotions of the days leading up to, and the night of, broken glass. Unlike a lot of the other middle grade books of this genre, it doesn't skirt around what happened. The main character, Ruth, is in the thick of it and it affects her and her family directly. She herself is attacked, and there is no hiding of the violence committed on this night. For students that haven't heard of this era or have a general idea of anything about the Holocaust, this would be a rude awakening. However, it is a powerful story, filled with pieces of events that actual survivors told about all rolled into one girl's fictional experience. Her anger, fear, sadness, confusion, and strong determination are real and raw. It's a quick and short read, but for those ready to know "what was it like?" this will give them some real answers. I also like that it includes the laws enacted against Jews, the desperation of wanting to get out but not being able to because other countries wouldn't accept the Jews either, and the torn but necessary need for the Kindertransport. Very well done.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book I've read from this Girls Survive series and I've liked each one. Through Ruth's eyes, we get to see how the world of a young Jewish girl in Frankfurt, Germany, November 1938, completely changes overnight. The Night of Broken Glass is the first time in which violence was used against Jews, Ruth and her family and that of her closest friend, Miriam, included. Ruth's story tells not only of the crimes of the Nazis, but also the hatred of their once friendly Aryan neighbors, which is equally horrifying. There is also reference to the Kindertransport, the train that took Jewish children out of Germany to England. The book doesn't end with a happy ending, which is accurate, as this night was just the beginning of the horrors yet to come, but with more of a resolve to survive.

[Gail DiVico · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book based on the two nights of German massacre of Jews during World
War II. It centers around a young girl named Ruth, her parents, and her best friend, Miriam and Miriam's parents. The Germans struck without notice ransacking and destroying people's houses in addition to doing bodily harm to many for two nights in November of 1938. Ruth was bound and determined to stay strong and fight back. Many synagogues were also decimated in Germany and other countries in that area, I believe it was over 200. How humans can treat other humans this way is beyond me. It is not a long book, and the author's inclides note pages at the end, a glossary, and also a section on making connections where she asks readers what they would do in this situation. An excellent read for all middle schoolers and up.

[Mary T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was great! I grabbed some WWII historical fiction books to go along with our history curriculum, and I read this one aloud to my eight-year-old. We ended up finishing it in one sitting because it was so compelling from beginning to end. I think it really helped my son visualize what life in Germany was like for Jews during that time period. I learned a thing or two, too, like about the Kindertransport. I appreciated how the author tried to weave together as many real survivors' memories into Ruth's narrative. I've read one other one in this series, which I didn't care for as much. It's hard to compare, though, because the authors are different and because natural disasters are different than war violence.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

How does one fictionalize for young readers, yet keep true to history, Kristallnacht? Emma Carlson Berne has done a pretty good job of it. Ruth bears witness to this night of broken glass with her family and is quite rage-filled. It seems at times that was all Ruth was about, even being impetuous and unsafe with her rage. An epilogue showing Ruth what happened to Ruth after the war would have been a nice ending to the book but the ending given is still good as it bears to mind the uncertainty of the primed powder keg sitting on the horizon.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-researched and imagined portrait of The Night of Broken Glass as it unfolded in Frankfort, as told through the eyes of fictional character, Ruth. By developing a very individual human experience, with a specific personality and motivations, readers will readily identify with Ruth's courage, anger, fear, and frustration/helplessness. By concluding with the KinderTransport, the story nudges readers to learn more. Back matter is helpful, although presented in ways that make it more likely to be read by teachers than by actual readers.
An important and moving book.

[Erratic Bookish Teapot · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 y.o. review: I loved all the drama this book portrayed. It used really great words to describe the fears of Ruth and her family as well as accurately describing all of the violence and the destruction. My favorite part was when Ruth tried to go into the burning building to rescue her friend's prayer book. Another one of my favorite parts was the descriptions of the violence against children that happened during this time for nothing more than their race and ethnicity. I love this book it was amazing I think I will probably reread the whole thing.

[Morgan (youarethelibrarian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-written, well-researched piece of historical fiction in middle grade form, perfect for children around 10 or older. The main characters are twelve, but there is violence and prejudice because this chronicles the couple days before and the night of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass (November 9-10, 1938), from the perspective of a fictional Jewish girl. The author did her research and used several survivors' recollections in her storytelling.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read these in comparison with the I Survive series by Tarshis Lauren. and their sense of history isn’t as firm. It’s an adventurous story and the protagonist is very spirited and adventurous but her world view would seamlessly fit a modern kid. But kids looking for an exciting story with some historical events will find it here.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short, fast-paced book written for younger readers, and as is typical, the heroine is a bit too heroic for her age. Nonetheless the pathos of the dreadful situation does come through. However, the ending is too open-ended with way too many unknowns! With no resolution, the reader is sadly left with only imagining what might have happened to the fictional Ruth and her family.

[Shea Simper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a great story about a girl that got treated unfairly because of her Jewish religion. It also is a fun way to learn about history through reading. I love to read these books at night and don't want to stop reading until I finish the book. I also like how it says GIRLS survive not boys because girls don't seem to have the same privileges as boys in some places.

[Bella Starr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one a lot. There was a lot of stuff that happened in this short book, but I felt for the characters. The ending was sad, but probably realistic to what happened to the children. I wish there was more to the story!

[Evie Hugg]

Is there a part two?

Very well written. You could almost picture the story in your mind as you read it. So tragic and sad. Hard to comprehend what possessed people to be so cruel and heartless.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must-read for anyone. Simply knowing about Kristallnacht is one another; actually reading someone's experience of it (fictional though it is) is an entirely different thing. Not just different, but sobering and educational. Do not overlook this book!

[Helen Halbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this book. It was good, it was set in Germany in World War 2. The main character is Ruth. Ruth is Jewish. It was sad how in the end Ruth had to leave her family and friends. I wondered if her father would come back but he did not. I think the author did a good job.

[Skye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, easy to read stories about important moments in history. Always was interested in learning about both World wars and had to pick this one up. Perfect for anyone who loves history!

[Hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great addition to our Historical Fiction unit in fourth grade. It gave a look into some of the early events of the Holocaust without being too scary.

[Darlene Campos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful read!

This book was amazing. It gripped my attention from the beginning. Although it is aimed for kids, I'm an adult who thoroughly enjoyed the story.

[Kathleen A · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is incomprehensible what humans did to other humans because they were Jewish. Your friend and neighbor one day, and after propaganda, your enemies and crucifiers the next day.

[Cindi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emotional, powerful, heartbreaking, and needed. A great book to help share the truth at a level kids can handle.