The Upstairs Room was written by Johanna Reiss, “Annie,” as an account of her time as a young Jewish girl in hiding in Holland during World War II. Annie and her older sister, Sini, who is 10 years her senior, spent several years living in the upstairs of a Gentile family’s home, apart from the rest of their kin who were in hiding elsewhere. They were treated like family by the Oostervelds who risked their lives to protect them day by day and throughout several close encounters with German soldiers.
The book jacket describes that Reiss originally started out simply intending to tell her story to her two daughters, but her writing ultimately evolved into a book so notable that it received several awards, including a Newberry Honor. My sixth grader definitely could have read this book independently, but because of the sensitive subject matter, I wanted to read it with him.
Mom, which book is next? 