Briar Rose
by, Jane Yolen
The cover of this book explains, "The Bright Tale of Sleeping Beuty, The Dark Tale of the Holocaust- Twined together in a story you will never forget."
I believe this to be true. I will never forget this story! I was intrigued by this concept- a fairy tale version of the holocaust? Before I began reading this book, I thought this would be an impossible combination.
The main character in this book, Becca, seeks to discover more about the mystery's of her grandmother's life. Her grandmother ("Gemma") shared a unique version of the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty" to Becca throughout her childhood. Gemma's dying words to Becca were "I was the princess in the castle in the sleeping woods. And there came a great dark mist and we all fell asleep. But the prince kissed me awake. Only me. Promise me you will find the castle. Promise me you will find the prince. Promise me you will find the maker of the spells." And so, Becca begins her quest, and it leads her to a deep and powerful account of the holocaust.
I couldn't put this book down. The book seems to be part fairy tale, part mystery, part historical fiction. The accounts of the holocaust are graphic and painful. Certainly not a book for young, young children. However, I found it to be very engaging, and the story might help teenagers and young adults to gain some sense of the horrors of the holocaust.
This sounds like such a unique book,I am very interested in reading this. The topic of the Holocaust is definitely something i dont know a lot about so even reading a childrens fiction book about it would be a good start. Yes, I agree with your initial thought about intertwining the holocaust with a fairytale theme and how odd the combination would be. I'm very intrigued to check it out though!
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