Hanna was going to be a concert pianist just like her idol Clara Schumann. Everything was going to plan until March 1944 when the German tanks rolled into Budapest and her world began to crumble. First it was the yellow stars sewn onto her clothing by her mother, then the ghetto forming around them and finally the truck and train journeys that take her and her family to Auschwitz.

When she is chosen by the commandant to play his piano for him and his guests, she meets Karl – the commandant’s indifferent son. Or is he something else? Does he actually care about her and the other prisoners?

This was a fantastic read on a subject that should always be written about and never forgotten. Told from Hanna’s point of view – from ghetto, to camp and back again, I was drawn in from the first page.

Author – Suzy Zail

Age – 12+

(Holocaust, Nazis, Jew, Love, Courage, Racism, Historical, War, Music)