Hidden Hope

Starred review from February 1, 2023

Gr 4-6-It's World War II, and the Nazis have crossed into France to round up Jewish people. With most Jews fearing the threat of concentration camps and death, a few brave people have stepped up and joined a secret society called the French Resistance. The goal of the resistance was to create documents with fake names, birth dates, families, and religious affiliations. Smuggling those papers became a full-time job for one young girl named Jacqueline Gauthier, a French Christian. Her tenacity at smuggling these papers from place to place was impressive to the Jewish people. She accomplished it all on her bike, through the use of a wooden toy duck with a hollowed-out center. Despite nearly being caught many times, Gauthier persisted. Many Jews pondered what her motivation was in helping them; if they only knew her secrets, they would understand. Accompanying the almost poetic text, where truncated sentences add immediacy, are moody, atmospheric full-page watercolor, pencil, and gouache illustrations, softly done in teal, browns, and orange, that well portray the terror of living during this era. Gauthier and all characters are white. VERDICT An important true account to add to all collections. Gauthier's inspiring story will spur on anyone who doubts just how much difference one young person can truly make.-Tracy Cronce

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2023
This slowly unfolding picture-book biography begins by setting the scene: the environment of hate during the Holocaust and why it was necessary for many Jews to hide their true identities. The book introduces a toy duck that was used to conceal false papers; then its bearer, teenaged French Resistance member Jacqueline Gauthier; and finally Gauthier's real name, Judith Geller, and the fact that she was Jewish herself. Boxer's short lines of text summarize Geller's work, dramatizing one close encounter with a Nazi soldier and her persistence after that narrow escape. Bates's atmospheric watercolor and gouache paintings emphasizing black and muted red tones propel the scenes with varied, inventive compositions. Though the book conveys a sense of the danger for Jews and thus the urgency of Geller's work, the story was pieced together from relatively little information, as notes from the author and illustrator explain, and might work best as part of a larger lesson on the Holocaust. Back matter also includes a bibliography. Shoshana Flax

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from April 15, 2023
An adolescent girl and a toy duck helped save hundreds of Parisian Jewish lives during World War II. Jacqueline Gauthier, a heroic Jewish teenage French Resistance member, posed as a Christian social worker and bicycled her way through the streets of Paris during the German occupation. She carried a wooden toy duck on wheels in her satchel, ostensibly to homes with children as a plaything. This was a ploy; unbeknownst to Nazis who'd overtaken the city and were on the constant lookout for hidden Jews, the toy had a secret compartment. Inside were false identity papers--not bearing the stamp Juive (the French word for Jew)--that Gauthier clandestinely ferried to desperate Jews so they could flee the city undetected and unharmed. Also unknown to the Nazis: The "social worker" undertook this task at enormous personal risk, for she was Jewish herself. Her real name was Judith Geller, and she had hidden her own parents and brother and carried her own fake documents. Boxer tells Judith's story in an understated manner, making it all the more heart-rending; succinct sentences heighten dramatic tension. The illustrations, rendered in watercolor, gouache, and pencil, are somber, in keeping with the story's dark themes and images of terrified people literally hiding in the shadows. Judith's red beret and the yellow duck stand out to deliberately keep readers' focus on them throughout. (This book was reviewed digitally.) This quiet book rightfully helps a little-known Holocaust heroine emerge from the darkness. (author's and artist's notes, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 8-11)

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Starred review from February 15, 2023
Grades 1-4 *Starred Review* In this dramatic true story, readers encounter Jacqueline Gauthier, a teenager in the French Resistance, who navigated a network of subterfuge to save hundreds of threatened Jews during WWII by concealing forged documents within a toy that she biked to families in hiding. "After all, who would suspect / that a wooden duck / . . . had a secret? // A hidden compartment. / Hope in a hollow." But this young woman held a dangerous secret of her own: her real name was Judith Geller, and she, too, was Jewish. Boxer's action-packed recounting of Geller's determination, selflessness, and agency is a refreshing alternative to the more prolific gentile-savior stories of the Holocaust. The efficient yet informative text conveys the urgency of Geller's mission, with occasional words enlarged for emphasis or offset, hurtling like Geller on her precious bicycle. Bates' muted Old World palette is reminiscent of her stunning work in Gittel's Journey (2019). These evocative, shadowy panels are

January 1, 2023
This slowly unfolding picture-book biography begins by setting the scene: the environment of hate during the Holocaust and why it was necessary for many Jews to hide their true identities. The book introduces a toy duck that was used to conceal false papers; then its bearer, teenaged French Resistance member Jacqueline Gauthier; and finally Gauthier's real name, Judith Geller, and the fact that she was Jewish herself. Boxer's short lines of text summarize Geller's work, dramatizing one close encounter with a Nazi soldier and her persistence after that narrow escape. Bates's atmospheric watercolor and gouache paintings emphasizing black and muted red tones propel the scenes with varied, inventive compositions. Though the book conveys a sense of the danger for Jews and thus the urgency of Geller's work, the story was pieced together from relatively little information, as notes from the author and illustrator explain, and might work best as part of a larger lesson on the Holocaust. Back matter also includes a bibliography.

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)