"How brave are you, little Annemarie?" Uncle Henrik asks

his ten-year-old n***e. It is 1943, and to Annemarie

Johansen, life in Copenhagen is a complicated mix of ordinary

home and school life, food shortages, and the constant

presence of Nazi soldiers. Bravery seems a vague virtue,

one possessed by dragon-slaying knights in the bedtime

stories she tells her younger sister, Kirsti. Too soon, she

herself is called upon for courage.

As the German troops begin their campaign to "relocate" all

the Jews of Denmark, the Johansens take in Annemarie's

best friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is part of the family.

 Ellen and Annemarie must think quickly when three Nazi

officers arrive late one night and question why Ellen is not

 blond, like her sisters.

Through Annemarie's eyes, we see the Danish Resistance as

they manage to smuggle almost the entire Jewish population,

nearly 7000 people, across the sea to Sweden. In this tale

of an entire nation's heroism, Lois Lowry reminds us that

there is pride and human decency in the world even during

a time of terror and war.

"While the novel has an absorbing plot, its real strength lies in its

evocation of deep friendship between two girls and of a caring family

who makes a profoundly moral choice..."--BOOKLIST