“Hidden Hope”
By Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Amy June Bates.
Abrams Books for Young Readers, New York, Grades 3-4, 48 pages, 2023
People are often challenged and frightened during trying times. The reasons for these fears are many. Some people don’t want to get involved for fear of becoming future victims. Others do not care what happens to others, as long as they are safe.
Some people, however, rise above these trepidations and risk their lives to help others. During World War II, many brave souls put their lives on the line to save Jews caught in the grasp of the Nazis. Many of these brave people were ordinary persons acting with extraordinary courage. In France, those aiding downed pilots, Jews, and those on the German death lists often belonged to the Resistance.
The Resistance bravely challenged the Nazi authorities by concealing the victims, arranging false identification papers and sometimes leading the victims over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain. Elisa Boxer writes the story of a young woman, Jacqueline Gauthier, who fooled the German authorities in Paris and saved many helpless Jews from death. The name of this astonishing story is “Hidden Hope,” by Elisa Boxer.
Everything changes in Paris with the fall of France in June 1940. The beautiful, charming city is transformed by its Nazi conquerors, into a frightening world of terror and suspicion. All Jews are soon subject to arrest. Most of these people have lived in France their entire lives. They consider themselves French. This makes no difference to the Nazis. Scores of French-Jewish citizens are arrested. Many more will follow.
Because of fear, some people don’t want to be involved. Other people respond by joining the Resistance to save the victims of the Third Reich and to sabotage military facilities. Jacqueline Gauthier becomes a member of the Resistance, to save Jews from what will become “The Final Solution.”
The young woman pretends to be a Christian social worker helping children. To do this work, she rides her bicycle all over the city. This ruse allows her to travel anywhere in Paris. Jacqueline puts a toy wooden duck in her basket, to fool any German soldiers searching it. A secret compartment has been cleverly built inside the duck’s body. This section of the duck is large enough to hold false documents and passports. But since it is a toy, the Nazis don’t suspect anything. However, she lives under great fear throughout the entire war.
What happens to Jacqueline Gauthier? How does she continue to deceive the Germans? Does she survive the German occupation of France? How is she able to overcome her great anxieties, as she delivers documents and papers that save people’s lives? How does Jacqueline’s concern for others overcome her apprehension about her own safety? To find the answers to these and other questions, go to the library and check out “Hidden Hope” by Elisa Boxer.
This is a book about an exceptional young woman risking her life to save others. The illustrations draw readers into the agony of the victims of the Holocaust. The triumphal drawings at the end of the book fill the reader with hope.
This is a book that should be shared by older adults with the younger members of the family. This would allow the parents to explain parts of the book that might be difficult for children to understand. This is a compelling story about a young woman’s decisions to risk her own life to save others. Though there is much pain in the story, there is also great hope. Recommended.
