Resistance by Jennifer Nielsen is a heart-wrenching historical fiction novel telling the story of survival, hope, and trust. The setting is Nazi-controlled Poland at the height of Hitler’s power, covering only from October 1942 to April 1943. Chaya is a young Polish Jew, who is able to sneak in and out of the ghetto because of her fair features. For one so young, Chaya has seen more horrors and heartbreak than most ever will. After seeing her sister taken by the Nazis, her brother disappearing, and her parents losing all hope as they suffer in the ghetto, Chaya decides that she is going to do what she can to fight back and joins the Resistance. As a courier for the movement, she is sent from ghetto to ghetto, delivering false papers, people, and food. As the war progresses and the Nazis strengthen their hold on Poland, Chaya’s life is put in more peril and her missions more dangerous and urgent.

Jennifer Nielsen has masterfully written a novel that takes a subject that is difficult and heart-wrenching, which she doesn’t gloss over or sugar-coat the atrocities, but it is surprisingly age appropriate. She has done her research, included actual historical events and people in a way that pays tribute to their stories and causes the reader to feel for their suffering. Resistance is a such a hard read, with a reminder of the horror of war or the ghettos on every page; it is such an important story to have told. Knowing that there were and are people who are like Chaya when she said, “I want a world in which no blood must be spilled. A world free of hatred that made a fight such as this necessary”–these are the kinds of novels that change the world one person at a time.
This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Scholastic

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None

Violence/Gore: Mention of Nazi death camps specifically 3 times; mention of Nazis saying they want to kill someone 5 times; character shoots a gun at a soldier; 3 page account of characters running and hiding from soldiers intent on killing them, including soldier firing an automatic weapon where he thought they were hiding; characters attack a cafe with grenades injuring 13 and killing 11; character sees bullet hole riddled door and blood stains on the floor of a former resistance hideout; mention of Nazis killing someone on sight 5 times; mention of people having been tortured 3 times; man points gun at 2 characters and threatens them; account of boy being shot and falling from the window; soldiers enter a room and shoot everyone in sight; soldiers go on a rampage shooting people being herded into the streets; secondhand account of Jewish people being stopped on the street and beaten; man recounts having witnessed Jewish children being taken from their families and put on a train; news report heard by character that told of a German resistance group being rounded up and executed on site; character gives an account of the day her sister was taken by the Nazis; character taken and beaten knocking her unconscious and breaking her arm; soldiers burn building to the ground knowing there was someone in it; character tied up outside in the cold like a dog; character blows up a few trucks with grenades; character recounts being beaten by soldiers; character recounts having gun aimed at her head; characters told to stop or be shot; character recounts how 52 resistance fighters were lined up and shot; character mentions brother being killed in a bombing; Account of 2000 Jews being shot in the street and the remaining Jews being taken to the death camps; 3 chapter account of battle between Nazi soldiers and resistance fighters with people being injured and killed; characters throw grenade at tank setting it on fire; characters witness an airplane dropping bombs on the ghetto; account of soldiers having found the hospital and killing everyone in it; characters go out on the street and see the dead from the battle laying in the streets; character witnesses armored cars driving around shooting buildings; German soldiers round up anyone in ghetto and everyone is shot; resistance fighter shoots officer in the chest; character is shot as she throws a Molotov cocktail at a German soldier resulting in a gunshot wound in the leg; character shoots a German soldier; soldiers enter ghetto with flame throwers and burn everything down; character is shot at and returns fire; mention of Jewish leaders being rounded up and shot; character shot at by soldier; soldiers throw poison gas into tunnels where people are trying to escape and someone throws them self on to the grenade to stop poison from spreading; character hears her friend being shot and dying but can’t do anything to help.

Note: Resistance is a novel that not only takes place during WWII but tells the story of the Polish ghettos and the treatment of the Jewish people as well. As the setting of the novel takes place mostly in the ghettos, I did not tally the mentions of the destitution, cruelty and hardships that came from living in the ghettos since it was the prevalent theme throughout the entire novel.

Sex/Nudity:  Boy and girl hug; boy kisses girl on cheek.

Mature Subject Matter:

War, ghettos, death, Nazi atrocities.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None