Introduction
It's hard to believe that I wrote Number the Stars more than twenty years ago. It seems like yesterday that I answered the phone on a snowy January morning and received the news that it had been awarded the 1990 Newbery Medal. Most books published that long ago have faded into a pleasant, undisturbed retirement on dusty library shelves, or become an occasional topic for a research paper. But Number the Stars seems to have acquired its own long and vibrant life; not a day goes by that I don't hear from a passionate reader of the book—some of them parents who remember it from their childhood and are now reading it with their own children. I think readers of every age match themselves against the protagonists (heroes) of books they love. Would I have done that? They ask themselves as they follow a fictional character through a novel. What choice would I have made? And ten—the age of Annemarie in Number the Stars,and the approximate age of most of the book's readers—is an age when young people are beginning to develop a strong set of personal ethics. They want to be honorable people. They want to do the right thing. And they are beginning to realize that the world they live in is a place where the right thing is often hard, sometimes dangerous, and frequently unpopular. So they follow a story about a girl their age, caught in a frightening situation, who must make decisions. She could take the easy way out. She could turn her back on her friend. (As the readers of Number the Stars grow older and read other Holocaust literature, they'll find that many people in other countries, not Denmark, did just that). Young readers rejoice when Annemarie takes a deep breath, enters the woods, faces the danger, stands up to the enemy, and triumphs. When the book was newly published, it found its way into the hands and hearts of children who had read about but never experienced war. Now, sadly, I have heard from young readers who have lost a parent or an older brother in Iraq or Afghanistan. We all know how easy it is, and how futile, to blame and to hate. I think the history of Denmark has much to teach us all. The book has been published in many countries now, translated into countless different languages from Hungarian to Hebrew. Everywhere children are still reading about the integrity that a small Scandinavian population showed almost seventy years ago. Books do change lives, I know; and many readers have told me that Number the Stars changed theirs when they were young, that it made them think about both cruelty and courage. "It was something that shaped my idea of how people should be treated", wrote a young woman recently, recalling her own fourth grade experience with the book. The Danish friend who originally told me the story of her childhood in Copenhagen in 1943, and who became the prototype for the fictional Annemarie, is an old woman now. So am I. We both love thinking of the children reading the story today, coming to it for the first time and realizing that once, for a brief time and in a small place, a group of prejudice-free people honored the humanity of others.
Lois Lowry
It's hard to believe that I wrote Number the Stars more than twenty years ago. It seems like yesterday that I answered the phone on a snowy January morning and received the news that it had been awarded the 1990 Newbery Medal. Most books published that long ago have faded into a pleasant, undisturbed retirement on dusty library shelves, or become an occasional topic for a research paper. But Number the Stars seems to have acquired its own long and vibrant life; not a day goes by that I don't hear from a passionate reader of the book—some of them parents who remember it from their childhood and are now reading it with their own children. I think readers of every age match themselves against the protagonists (heroes) of books they love. Would I have done that? They ask themselves as they follow a fictional character through a novel. What choice would I have made? And ten—the age of Annemarie in Number the Stars,and the approximate age of most of the book's readers—is an age when young people are beginning to develop a strong set of personal ethics. They want to be honorable people. They want to do the right thing. And they are beginning to realize that the world they live in is a place where the right thing is often hard, sometimes dangerous, and frequently unpopular. So they follow a story about a girl their age, caught in a frightening situation, who must make decisions. She could take the easy way out. She could turn her back on her friend. (As the readers of Number the Stars grow older and read other Holocaust literature, they'll find that many people in other countries, not Denmark, did just that). Young readers rejoice when Annemarie takes a deep breath, enters the woods, faces the danger, stands up to the enemy, and triumphs. When the book was newly published, it found its way into the hands and hearts of children who had read about but never experienced war. Now, sadly, I have heard from young readers who have lost a parent or an older brother in Iraq or Afghanistan. We all know how easy it is, and how futile, to blame and to hate. I think the history of Denmark has much to teach us all. The book has been published in many countries now, translated into countless different languages from Hungarian to Hebrew. Everywhere children are still reading about the integrity that a small Scandinavian population showed almost seventy years ago. Books do change lives, I know; and many readers have told me that Number the Stars changed theirs when they were young, that it made them think about both cruelty and courage. "It was something that shaped my idea of how people should be treated", wrote a young woman recently, recalling her own fourth grade experience with the book. The Danish friend who originally told me the story of her childhood in Copenhagen in 1943, and who became the prototype for the fictional Annemarie, is an old woman now. So am I. We both love thinking of the children reading the story today, coming to it for the first time and realizing that once, for a brief time and in a small place, a group of prejudice-free people honored the humanity of others.
Lois Lowry
King Christian of Denmark
He was a supporter of the Jews. He Opposed persecuting or removing Denmark's Jewish citizens and residents by the Germans. |
Throughout the story, come back to this map. It may help you to visualize where things are happening with Annemarie, Ellen, and their families.
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You will occasionally read some words that are either in German or Danish. You can go to this website to hear how they are pronounced.
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Are you ready to begin??
Chapters 1-4
Vocabulary - You should study these words. They show up in your story and it is important to know them. Plus, you never know when they may appear on a quiz.
Haughty - proud, arrogant, stuck-up
Haughtily - To act very haughty
The woman at the clothing store was very snobby. She had a look of haughty disdain on her face when the homeless man entered her store, as if she felt he didn't belong there.
Glowering - To have a really angry look, or a scowl on the face. To glower is like frowning.
Linda glowered at her brother suspiciously when he came out of the kitchen with cookie crumbs all over his shirt.
Impassive - To act with very little emotion. To do something or say something with no feeling. Another word for Impassive would be "apathetic", which is a pretty commonly used word to describe someone who acts without emotion.
He kept his features impassive as he used his words to hurt her feelings on purpose.
The warden was impassive as she made the prisoners dig another hole, even though she knew that their bodies were sore and their hands were bloody.
Belligerent - hostile, threatening, and aggressive;
My neighbor was a belligerent old man, often threatening the neighborhood with his shouts of disapproval and creating a scene by yelling a everyone.
Belligerently - To act in a belligerent way
Obstinate - Stubborn, headstrong, inflexible. Unwilling to change one's mind.
I tried to explain to my sister that people do not let their cars warm up for 5 hours! But she is so obstinate and refused to listen to me! Now we have to walk to school because we are out of gas!
Contempt - disgust, dislike, discontent. Having contempt about something means you dislike something so much that you feels that it is only worthy of your scorn.
He showed his contempt for his chores by doing them very poorly.
Haughtily - To act very haughty
The woman at the clothing store was very snobby. She had a look of haughty disdain on her face when the homeless man entered her store, as if she felt he didn't belong there.
Glowering - To have a really angry look, or a scowl on the face. To glower is like frowning.
Linda glowered at her brother suspiciously when he came out of the kitchen with cookie crumbs all over his shirt.
Impassive - To act with very little emotion. To do something or say something with no feeling. Another word for Impassive would be "apathetic", which is a pretty commonly used word to describe someone who acts without emotion.
He kept his features impassive as he used his words to hurt her feelings on purpose.
The warden was impassive as she made the prisoners dig another hole, even though she knew that their bodies were sore and their hands were bloody.
Belligerent - hostile, threatening, and aggressive;
My neighbor was a belligerent old man, often threatening the neighborhood with his shouts of disapproval and creating a scene by yelling a everyone.
Belligerently - To act in a belligerent way
Obstinate - Stubborn, headstrong, inflexible. Unwilling to change one's mind.
I tried to explain to my sister that people do not let their cars warm up for 5 hours! But she is so obstinate and refused to listen to me! Now we have to walk to school because we are out of gas!
Contempt - disgust, dislike, discontent. Having contempt about something means you dislike something so much that you feels that it is only worthy of your scorn.
He showed his contempt for his chores by doing them very poorly.
Chapters 5-8
Important vocabulary:
Imperious - arrogant or domineering. To assume power or authority without justification
Though she was clever and good-looking, her imperious manner caused her to not have very many friends.
Unwavering - to be very sure and certain about something
His decision had been made. He was unwavering as he moved forward with the plans.
Tentatively - Unsure, hesitantly
Ellen tentatively picked up the statue and admired it with care.
Gnarled - knobby, rough, and twisted. Especially from age.
The witch's gnarled fingers grabbed me by the shoulder and made my skin crawl!
Specter - something widely feared as being really unpleasant or even possibly dangerous
With the ever growing specter of war, he couldn't help but to enlist in the army to defend his country against all enemies.
Ruefully - in a way that shows sorrow, regret, or even pity
The chef ruefully admitted that you're only as good as your last meal.
Imperious - arrogant or domineering. To assume power or authority without justification
Though she was clever and good-looking, her imperious manner caused her to not have very many friends.
Unwavering - to be very sure and certain about something
His decision had been made. He was unwavering as he moved forward with the plans.
Tentatively - Unsure, hesitantly
Ellen tentatively picked up the statue and admired it with care.
Gnarled - knobby, rough, and twisted. Especially from age.
The witch's gnarled fingers grabbed me by the shoulder and made my skin crawl!
Specter - something widely feared as being really unpleasant or even possibly dangerous
With the ever growing specter of war, he couldn't help but to enlist in the army to defend his country against all enemies.
Ruefully - in a way that shows sorrow, regret, or even pity
The chef ruefully admitted that you're only as good as your last meal.
Kronborg Castle.
As they are traveling to the sea, Kirsti is amazed at this castle and talks about it a lot.
As they are traveling to the sea, Kirsti is amazed at this castle and talks about it a lot.