After the War: From Auschwitz to Ambleside Written by Tom Palmer. Reviewed by Isabelle, Age 11

Based on true events, this book is set in the summer of 1945 in the Lake District and tells the story of 3 Jewish boys who came from the Nazi concentration camps. The book has a lot of facts in it but still tells the story really well, with a lot of description and great characters. It was really eye-opening as this is part of history that I didn’t really know much about.

I like the use of flashbacks as it gives more information about the boys and what they have been through in the concentration camps. This could make it a sad story, but overall it isn’t too sad because the story is about the part of their life where they are safe. From the start you can see that the characters are like brothers even though they aren’t related. I think this is because they don’t have anybody else but they do have each other and they know what each other have been through and how they feel. I liked how all of the characters were different and had different opinions but felt like a family.

It was funny, but also sad, that the things that we take for granted they almost couldn’t believe they now had them because they had lived so long without them, like electric lights, and even people being nice to them was a surprise. I thought it was nice of them that even though they had lived without food, when they were given tomato soup, they wanted to give it back because they were worried that the people who had given it to them didn’t have enough to eat. It was a really good lesson to appreciate all the things that we have.

Because of some of the things that happened to the Jews which are described in the flashbacks, I would only recommend this for readers aged 11 and over because I think it could be too upsetting for younger readers.