Playing for the Commandant

Gr 7 Up—Walnuts, a single egg, a raw potato: these items spelled the difference between life and death for the Jewish inmates in Auschwitz-Birkenau during the Holocaust. Fifteen-year-old Hanna is an aspiring musician from an upper-class family in Hungary when the Nazis invade and forcefully evict Hanna and her parents and her sister from their home. Hanna is able to survive because she is selected to be the Nazi commandant's personal pianist. In this unlikely scenario, she travels each day to his home and smuggle food back into the concentration camp each evening. She falls in love with Karl, the commandant's son; but considering the circumstances there is no "happily ever after" for the two. Emily Foster narrates the book with conviction and empathy. There are many references to music, and although there is no actual music playing in the background, listeners feel the spirit and the comfort music brings through the narrator's inflections and tone. This book gives listeners insight into some of the horrors suffered without going into the gruesome details.