Impossible Escape, by Steve Sheinkin

     If you have been reading this blog, you know that author Steve Sheinkin is my all-time favorite non-fiction and historical fiction writer, and he does not disappoint in this newest book! The full title is Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe, and as the title suggests, this story takes place during World War 2, when Adolph Hitler and all those who went along with him set out to take over as much of the world as possible, and kill as many Jews along the way as possible. The killing of Jewish people (and many other groups that did not fit into the view of tomorrow that Hitler and those who agreed with him envisioned) was called the Final Solution, and as Sheinkin shows during this story, even when it was obvious that the war was ending and the Nazis were losing, the killing accelerated and continued.

    Impossible Escape is the true story of two school friends, teenagers who are trapped in Hitler's hatred, living in Slovakia. Rudi finds himself a prisoner in Auschwitz, a death camp in Poland, after being caught trying to leave his home country before the Nazi's have a chance to capture him and take him away. Gerta and her family are living as quietly and discreetly as possible in Hungary after escaping from Slovakia, living under false names to avoid being caught and killed. Rudi is motivated to escape when he learns that no one outside of Auschwitz knows what is taking place there, and he is determined to bring that truth to the rest of the world. He thinks that if the world really knew what was happening there, the war would more quickly come to an end.

    The realities in this book are not easy to read, and many are even, in my opinion, difficult. Yet these things did happen in our world, and not terribly long ago. Sheinkin asks in his book how so many people could have agreed with the hatred that seemed to be spreading across the world to the extent that allowed 6 million people to die because of it? I would also ask how we make sure something like that never, ever happens again. In today's world and even right here in our own country, there are people who seems to have enough people's attention to make their voices seem bigger or more important than others, and it seems a growing number of those voices are speaking the same kind of hateful speech that Hitler did during the time of this book. As young adults, it will be on your shoulders (as well as us older beings - I am seven years old, which is 40-something in dog years, after all!) together to counter those voices of hatred and superiority, so that all people (and dogs!) have a safe place to share ideas, ask questions, and live their lives without doing harm to others. A bit like the Golden Rule, but apparently, based on this story, not as easy to achieve as it is to say or remember. 

    Impossible Escape does have some happiness in its ending, but it is a pretty dark story overall. Like many of Sheinkin's books, it reads like a fiction story, even though it is very real. It takes a few chapters for the story to begin to come together, so if you enjoy non-fiction or historical fiction, or are drawn the stories of World War 2, give this book, and any Sheinkin book, your time and effort. You will be rewarded with what might also become one of your favorite authors and possibly life-changing information! 5 paws!