The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington - OPTIONAL

The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington, 264 pages.  Candlewick, 2018.  $18. 

Language: PG (7 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (mentions of deaths and cruelty, nothing graphic)

BUYING ADVISORY:  HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

One moment Ella was walking home from school, the next she has been rounded up by the Nazis because of her yellow star and transported to the concentration camp  Birkenau, or Birchwood, as the author calls it. Luckily she is a superb seamstress and is able to get a job in the Upper Tailoring Studio where they makes clothing for the female officers and the wives of the camp overseers.  But life under Nazi rule is cheap – one little slip and anyone can be out on their ear in a heartbeat.  The girls of the Studio try to form a family, but the only person Ella really trusts is Rose – a former member of an upper class, who is now also only trying to survive.  

I rated this optional only because the audience for it will be small.  Excellent writing, an intriguing peek into a little seen part of the Holocaust – even a look at the Department Store, where Nazis of all kinds “shopped” through the belongings of the victims.  For that alone, I know adults will love this.  There are some very subtle lesbian overtones – so slight, most teens will miss them.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS