We Had to Be Brave, written by Deborah Hopkinson, reviewed by Stephanie Wilson

Summary: In November 1938, days after Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass); plans were made to rescue as many Jewish children as possible by sending them to England. 10,000 Jewish children primarily from Germany and Austria were ultimately rescued. We Had to Be Brave tells the individual stories of the children whose lives were saved by the Kindertransport. A variety of individuals and organizations worked together to facilitate the transports. Only children under the age of seventeen were eligible for the Kindertransports. One memorable scene from the book tells the story of a boy who was discovered after boarding the transport to be eighteen. His head was shaved. It was clear he had likely been arrested and released from a concentration camp. This presented a devastating dilemma. If they told the officials the truth, it would doom him to certain death. If they lied to protect him, they risked jeopardizing the lives of the other children. Hopkinson organizes the information chronologically. She follows the individual stories of the children from their memories of life before Hitler and on into adulthood. Many of the children hauntingly remember sobbing as they said their good-byes. The older children realized the partings might be permanent. Many of the children held out hope they would eventually be reunited with their families. Roughly 90% of the Kindertransport children never saw their parents again. The book is filled with photographs and online links to individual stories. A glossary and timeline of events is also included. The final section of the book features updates on the survivors and rescuers. 

Straight Talk for Librarians: It’s difficult to read a book like We Had To Be Brave and not find yourself moved to tears. The children who were rescued have fond memories of their idyllic childhood prior to Hitler’s rise to power. They had vacations at the beach, visits to their grandparents and close friendships with their classmates. The events that followed Kristallnacht marked them forever. We Had To Be Brave sends a warning about how intolerance slowly became persecution through hate speech and small indignities and continued to grow unchecked. It ended in the "final solution." It's a warning about intolerance we would be wise to heed. The book lends itself easily to cross-curricular applications. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.