The Keeper of Hidden Books

by Madeline Martin

“This is a story about making the choices you know are right, even when the rest of the world feels confusing and disorienting. It’s knowing who you are and choosing kindness and love;

In war, there were bad people, but there were also those who were good. It was all about who one chose to surround themselves with.

Isn’t it so heart-achingly perfect what books mean to people?

books were more than a means of escape for these children; they offered another life to live. They offered hope.

Good books were like amazing sunsets or awe-inspiring landscapes, better enjoyed with someone else. There was no greater experience in the world than sharing the love of a book, discussing its finer points, and reliving the story all over again.

There was power in literature. Brilliant and undeniable. Books inspired free thought and empathy, an overall understanding and acceptance of everyone. In the pages of books that were burned and banned and ripped apart for pulping, Zofia had found herself. These were the parts of her that were human and strong and loving, parts that understood lives she had never led.

We cannot allow education to be stifled or cultures to be erased or books to be banned. Nor can we let the memory of those brave men and women who fought for freedom and what is right disappear in the turning pages of time. The world also needs to remember to never take for granted what has been gifted to us through the sacrifice of others: the right to an education and learning, the power and luxury of freedom, and the beauty to appreciate the routine of simple, everyday life.