Educating The Next Generation

The Missing by Michael Rosen is nonfiction exploring what happened to members of the author’s family during World War II. It is suitable for ages ten years and over.

Michael Rosen’s family are Jewish. At the start of the war, he had relatives in France and Poland. They had disappeared without a trace by the time war had ended.

The author sets out on a quest to find his missing family members. He finds the fate of some, but not all.

The book is also about World War II and the Holocaust. Michael Rosen writes in such a way as to educate young minds but not to scare them witless. We need to tell the next generation in order to keep the memories of the innocents alive.

I enjoyed the inclusion of family photos and also the comprehensive bibliography so that our children (and us) can read more widely on the topics of World War II and refugees in general. There are both fiction and nonfiction books.

This is a powerful book.

JULIA WILSON