When Hitler's Germany starts to take Danish Jews into custody, Annemarie Johansen and her family take in Annemarie's best friend Ellen Rosen when her family must go into hiding. Their hope is to pass Ellen off as Annemarie's older sister Lise, who was killed for her part in the Danish Resistance, until she can escape. Lise's fiance Peter, also part of the Resistance, helps the family to protect the Rosens and get them out of the country to Sweden, a refuge for Jews fleeing the Holocaust.
Nazi soldiers come to their home and demand the Johansen family tell them where the Rosens have gone. They become suspicious when Annemarie and her sister have blonde hair and Ellen has dark brown, but Mr. Johansen shows the soldiers pictures with names and dates of three children--two blonde, one dark-haired. Though they are deflected the soldiers are not happy about it.
The next day Ellen and Annemarie travel with Mrs. Johansen to Annemarie's Uncle Henrik's home on the shores of the North Sea. Mrs. Johansen explains they are going for an aunt's funeral, but Annemarie knows there is no such aunt and demands Uncle Henrik explain; he says it is easier to be brave when you don't know the whole truth.
At the funeral ceremony, Nazi soldiers again arrive. When they demand to open the casket Annemarie's mother tells them a story about the aunt dying of typhus: the country doctor warned that everyone would contract the disease if the casket were opened. Her explanation angers the soldiers, but they leave. Afterward the casket is opened and the many Jewish families that had attended are given supplies to last until they arrive in Sweden.
The next morning Ellen goes with Uncle Henrik to meet up with her family and commence their escape. But Mrs. Johansen notices that Mr. Rosen dropped an important package on his way down the stairs, she gives it to Annemarie in a basket of food and sends her hurrying down to the docks. On her way she is stopped by more Nazi soldiers who throw the food about and find the package, a handkerchief, they send her on her way and Annemarie gets to Uncle Henrik's boat in time to give it to him.
When Uncle Henrik returns he explains why the handkerchief was important, and the Johansens return home to Copenhagen. After the war, Annemarie learns that her sister was intentionally killed by the Nazis, and that Peter has also been killed. The Jews return home to discover their neighbors have taken care of their shops and homes, awaiting their return. Ellen and her family return and Annemarie has her Star of David necklace repaired after the Nazi invasion of their apartment caused her to break it.
This story is one of the best-selling children's stories of the last twenty years; the friendship between Ellen and Annemarie as well as the willingness of the Danish people to put their lives at risk to help their neighbors shows an inspiring united front against the German machine of World War II. Number the Stars's title refers to both Ellen's Star of David and a biblical passage in which God has numbered the stars and knows the name of each one--just as he knows the name and heart of each human. Written to be understood by a younger readership, some of the gruesome details of the war are more suited to older elementary and middle school readers. Still, it is a tale that shows the ingenuity of human spirit and how a nation rose against oppression in favor of their own people.
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