The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

The Night War is the WWII story of a Jewish girl in Paris choosing to be brave when Nazis take everything from her.

The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Dial Books, 2024, 274 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 10-14

Miriam hasn’t felt safe since the Germans occupied France two years earlier, especially since Monsieur Rosenbaum was taken away. She carries a burden of guilt about that, believing she might have saved him with an innocent lie when soldiers grabbed him on the street. The least she can do is help Madame Rosenbaum take care of their little daughter Nora. All the Jews have been crammed into the Pletzl district of Paris, with less and less food and employment. They’re hoping to ride it out, until the day Miriam comes home to find her flat ransacked and her mother gone.

All the Jews are being herded together for transport, and Miriam and Madame Rosenbaum are caught up in the tide. On the bus to a destination unknown, the woman thrusts Nora into Miriam’s arms and tells her to run as soon as they get where they’re going. Head for Switzerland, if possible. She reminds Miriam, “We always have a choice. Not in what happens to us, but what we do in response.” Everyone has choices, such as the nun who rescues the girl from a sticky situation and sends her to a place of refuge at the Chateau de Chenonceau, where two more nuns are complicit in hiding Jewish girls at the convent school.

The story takes a supernatural turn with the appearance of a ghost: a historical character famous for ruthless actions that might even be comparable to the Nazis’. I’m not sure how well the ghost-angle works, but Miriam and Catherine di Medici have interesting conversations about morality and the use of power. What’s clear is that we all have choices, and in moments of crisis we can choose to be brave and responsible. Or not. Miriam’s story ends happily, due to the intervention of “righteous gentiles” as well as her own courage and resourcefulness.

Overall Rating: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 4
• Artistic/literary value: 4

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: The Jewish Holocaust in France is the background for White Bird, Village of Scoundrels, and Masters of Silence.
• Reflection: See our discussion of Bradley’s Fighting Words.
• Resource: How to act bravely and responsibly in difficult situations? See our Learning to Lead booklist for inspiring stories.

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