THE UPSTAIRS ROOM

Though surely a mystery, the grace that converts a wail into a song cannot be denied. Trapped inside Holland when Nazi armies invade, Johanna Reiss (Annie) recounts the four years she and her sister, Sini, were hidden by a kindly Dutch farm family in their unused upstairs bedroom. Reader Christina Moore's principal voice, as the 10-year-old narrator, disturbs us with its innocent surprise at the rapid changes in Annie's world and her growing awareness of the hate that surrounds her Jewish family. Yet we also discover in Moore's voice a tenuous security in the love of the couple who protect the sisters until liberation. Moore is also stunning as the crackly-voiced grandmother and the petulant Sini. A firsthand account of courage and goodness in the face of evil, this Newbery Honor Book should be an important addition to any middle-school discussion of the Holocaust. P.E.F. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 00]