Rose Under Fire

Young Adult Historical Fiction

VG/A  Wein, Elizabeth.  Rose Under Fire.  Hyperion, 2013.  368p.  978-1-4231-8309-9.  17.99

This companion book to Code Name Verity, picks up about 8 months after the events of the first novel. It’s a companion book because several of the characters from Verity make an appearance but this book stands alone. Here we follow the story of Rose, an 18-year-old American poet and pilot, who decides to join the war effort by joining the British ATA to deliver planes to the Allied Forces. Things take a turn for the worse when she is captured by the Germans and imprisoned at Ravensbruck concentration camp. At the camp Rose joins a group of Polish women who have been used for medical experimentation by the Nazis. Once again, Wein manages to beautifully tell a World War II story from an unusual perspective. Using Roses’ journal entries and poetry, the reader is able to really understand the strength it takes to survive, the anguish and the relationships that can form under such incredible circumstances. Highly recommend this book to young adults and adults alike. Loren Spector, LAPL, Felipe de Neve