Girl In The Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

Interest is sparked within the first chapter of Monica Hesse's riveting novel, Girl in the Blue Coat. As soon as the strange request by Mrs. Janssen is made and Hanneke learns the details of her impossible sounding task, the reader is on an intriguing journey along with her that keeps you on the edge of your seat.  Mirjam, a young Jewish girl who was being hidden by Mrs. Janssen has gone missing. The first step is to find out how she got out of the house. Once Hanneke has done that, then the hard part begins. A Jewish girl alone on the Nazi-occupied streets of Amsterdam is at constant risk.

Hanneke knows things are bad, but she does not really realize the full extent of things until she is deep into a resistance of which she never meant to become a part. Still mourning the loss of her love, Bas, she tries to do the right thing, which is not always clear, and is definitely not easy in  Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Each time Hanneke is face to face with a Nazi solider, or sneaking around someplace she knows she ought not, it is tense and terrifying to be inside her head. This book is so full of history, action, sadness, fear, and love. There is so much going on and reading about the Holocaust from a different perspective is interesting and educational. Hanneke is not Jewish, but she and her family are greatly affected by the events taking place in their city and all over Europe.

The author adds an afterward explaining just how historical the book is. While the characters are all made up, she tried to keep real evens and the timeline accurate. The author wrote this book after visiting Amsterdam and learning about how the Nazis took it and what the people went through. She did extensive research to add real and historically relevant aspects to this story, which I think makes it a great read for students learning about the Holocaust and World War II. There are so many ways to relate this story to other stories written about the same time period. Hanneke can be compared to other young people going through the Nazi invasion.

Even the way the author goes into detail about the hiding places that Jewish people were forced to stay in while people risked their lives to hide them in their homes is moving. It takes you to that place and time and the reality of this horrible time sets in a little more. Monica Hesse does a great job of capturing the intensity and fear of the characters.

Pros: Extremely interesting, well-written, a page-turner for sure, historically significant and would fit well into a unit about World War II. Highly recommended for strong readers. The book is somewhat lengthy for Young Adult Lit, but it goes by quickly because of the content.

Cons: I don't have any; the book is filled with fear and sad parts, but any books about War will have the same. Honestly, I'd read more by this author because of how much I enjoyed this book.

Here is short video capturing the synopsis and some of the feel of Girl in the Blue Coat:
https://youtu.be/q4h3P6lSnfY