!

" #

RESISTANCE
Title of the book: Resistance
Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 375
Rating (On a Scale of 1-5): 5
Reviewed by: Annika

Major Characters:

Chaya Lindner: Chaya is a 16-year-old Jewish girl who lives in Poland. After being separated from her
family by the Nazis, she joins a resistance effort against them. She is very strong and clever, with a
kind heart.
Esther Karolinski: Esther Karolinski is a shy girl who joins the resistance movement shortly after
Chaya. She has a past that haunts her, but that doesn't stop her from doing what she knows is right.
Yitzchak Lindner: Yitzchak is Chayas older brother who mysteriously disappears one day. He is very
passionate about music and loves his family and his people very much.
Chaya’s parents: Chaya’s parents are very caring people who always tried to make the lives of their
children very comfortable and happy. But when all their children are sent in different ways, they lose all
hope and the desire to stay alive.
Rubin: Rubin is a goofy man with determination to defeat the Nazis and a heart of gold who works for
the resistance movement. He always has the best interests of his people at heart and uses his anger at
the Nazis as fuel to help him achieve his goals.

Review:
Chaya Lindner is a Jew living in Poland during the Nazi occupation. That makes even her own home a
dangerous place, just because of her faith. After her family is torn apart, with her sister being sent to a
death camp and her brother mysteriously disappearing, Chaya watches her parents slowly lose all hope.
She decides that she is not going to lose hope and she definitely isn’t going to give in to the Nazis. So, she
joins a resistance group which pulled her straight into different rebellions, like train raids and she smuggles
various things in and out of ghettos. Occasionally she would even smuggle people. This continues without
many problems for a while, until one very risky mission goes completely wrong. As a result, the whole
resistance group falls apart and most of the members are captured by the Nazis. Without her group, Chaya
doesn't know what to do since she is alone. But when she gets a message from someone she used to work
with, she has to start an even riskier mission at an even more dangerous place. Her resistance group's goal
was to help many people and not give in to the Nazis. Chaya is determined to fight with honor in spite of
the challenges and irrespective of the consequences. But will she able to?

Overall, I loved the structure of the book. It was written almost like a diary, with the date and location written
at the top and it was written from Chaya’s perspective. The plot flowed very well and when you pick it up
you won’t want to put it down. The author definitely did a lot of research on the topic and used many real
events and people in the story. It takes you on an emotional roller coaster and you really feel like you are
next to Chaya through all of it. There were many times in the story where I felt myself fighting back tears or
feeling genuinely scared as if I was in Chaya’s place.

I would definitely recommend this book to teens because it is very eye opening and interesting. If you like
learning about history or just like the genre historical fiction, I think you will really like this book because it
really gives the reader insight on that time in history from a perspective we don't normally get to see, the
perspective of someone in the resistance efforts. Even if you don't like history, I would still recommend it
because it is such a great story with elements of many different genres in it, like adventure and action. It is
one of the best books for anyone who wants books with great messages but still has a very interesting
storyline.

The Smithtown Library Teen Department

Contact us: teens@smithlib.org

! " #

SITEMAP