Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book Award 2015
Dounia is an old woman now. A grandmother, but she is often sad and tonight her granddaughter wants to know why. Dounia begins the tale of her sorrows in France during the second World War. She and her parents lived their happily and the changes at first were subtle. Dounia used to have friends and was well liked by the teachers at her school. Now her best friend won't speak to her, she is forced to move to the back of the room, and her teachers seem to be ignoring her. When Dounia is forced to wear the yellow Star of David everywhere things begin to get worse. Now she and her family try to flee but strangers come in the night to take them away. Luckily the kindness of Dounia's neighbors saves Dounia, but not her family. They are separated but Dounia is kept safe and moves to the country to live with a nice lady but she is a stranger. Every day Dounia waits for her family. Finally her waiting is over as she is reunited with her mother, but Dounia never learns what happened to her father. This is the story she shares with her granddaughter. One that she has never told before, not even to her son.
Originally written in French 2012, but translated into English in 2014, Hidden is an amazing addition to any Holocaust unit. While the recommended age group is around 3rd grade this book can easily be coupled with other popular novels on the same subject such as Lois Lowry's Number the Stars or The Diary of Anne Frank. Some history classes may not have time for an entire novel study and could use Hidden as a supplement to their lessons as it is a quick read. Hidden: A child's story of The Holocaust also works well when paired with videos about real children's Holocaust experiences. Clips of one such video are featured below.
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