Harboring Hope
The True Story of How Henny Sinding Helped Denmark's Jews Escape the Nazis
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
The inspirational true story of how twenty-two-year-old Henny Sinding courageously helped smuggle hundreds of Jewish families in occupied Denmark to safety in Sweden during the Holocaust. A middle grade nonfiction novel-in-verse by award-winning author Susan Hood.
It wouldn’t be easy, but they had to try.
It was their only chance to survive.
In 1943, Henny Sinding, only twenty-two years old, and the crew of Gerda lll, a lighthouse supply boat, risked everything to smuggle their Jewish compatriots across the Øresund strait to safety in Sweden during World War ll. In Henny’s words, “It was the right thing to do so we did it. Simple as that.” But what happened when their operation’s cover was blown and it was Henny’s turn to escape?
This incredible true story in-verse about courage, community, humanity, and hope is perfect for fans of Lifeboat 12, Alias Anna, and Alan Gratz.
Includes extensive back matter with primary sources, additional information, further reading, and photographs.
A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD GOLD STANDARD SELECTION!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Focusing on Henny Sinding (b. 1921), daughter of a respected Royal Danish Navy commander, Hood's expansive verse recounting of the WWII Danish resistance movement builds a strong sense of shared Danish values while encompassing Nazi Germany's 1940 invasion and its deportation of Danish Jews after years of "peaceful occupation." Compared to Pippi Longstocking for her compassion and unconventionality, and taught from childhood to maintain a "good inner moral compass," Sinding was as a young woman instrumental in helping more than 800 people flee from occupied Denmark; she personally escorted 300 individuals to a 12–meter lighthouse supply boat, the Gerda III, which took them across the Øresund strait to safety in Sweden. Effectively unadorned free verse from Hood (Alias Anna) capably renders the suspense and danger in numerous scenes of Sinding at work. It also traces Denmark's slow transformation from a stance of neutrality to becoming what Hitler described as "a model protectorate" to fighting back against German forces in August 1943. Numerous excerpts from Sinding's and others' first-person accounts personalize the history, while the format helps to funnel a wide breadth of material into an accessible narrative. Extensive back matter includes contextualizing information and historical photographs. Ages 10–up.
