Prisoner B-3087 (260 Pages)

This book is written by Alan Gratz and is based on the true story by Ruth and Jack Gruener. Like many books, this book, while based on Jack Gruener's story, is fictionalized by the author. It tells of a Jewish family living in Poland during the beginning of World War II. The story follows the main character, Yanek Gruener, who lives in Poland with his family and is able to survive in the walled off city even when his life is turned upside down. Like many Jewish families, Jack's father underestimated the Nazi behavior, thinking it would not be so bad. His mother and father were taken off to a concentration camp, and he never saw them again. He hid for a while, but eventually the Nazi organization found him and he was sent to a concentration camp- only to be transferred to 9 more camps until being freed by the Americans after surviving five years of horrible existence. The book is not dissimilar to Elie Weizels's Night with many of the same themes. By the way, Ruth and Jack live in Brooklyn, New York and are willing to come to schools and speak to children about the Holocaust.

Ashes( 465 Pages )

Ilsa J. Bick, the author of this book has written some of the most gruesome prose I've ever read. This is the first book of what will become a trilogy, and I almost didn't make it through. Because it was so full of violence, it was difficult to continue.  Alex is a young high school girl who's parents were both killed in an airplane accident. Both of her parents were doctors, and were on their way to a rescue mission. After her parents deaths, Alex was living with her aunt when she was diagnosed with a brain  tumor. Chemo and other treatments didn't seem to be helping, so one day she decides to take her parents ashes to Lake Superior and let them loose in the waters. But she doesn't make it because on her way there is some sort of attack on the U.S. that involves nuclear eruptions, among other horrible events. Both coasts are pretty much wiped out, but all of a sudden, Alex realizes that her senses that were gone, as a result of the chemo, had returned. But when the "ZAP" (her name for the attack) hit, many people dropped dead on the spot. Others were changed and became animal-like in their behaviors. A boy and girl who Alex had seen earlier have begun to eat the people in the camping area near Alex's camp spot.Although there are some tender moments in the book as she meets a young man who helps her, and there are twists and turns to the plot, it's just about as violent as a book can be. I may give book two a look over, but it it follows the same path as Ashes, I won't read all of it and won't buy Book #3! We'll see.