Up from the Ashes by Sharon Cameron

Rated: 5 star rating

Up from the Ashes by Sharon Cameron is just an incredible book. It is a historical fiction story based on the real lives of two Jewish prisoners, Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel. They get sent to the Sobibor death camp during World War II and somehow fall in love in the middle of a total nightmare. 

The story actually jumps back in time a bit to 1940 to show Selma's life during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam before she gets separated from her family and sent to the camp in 1943. 

Her job in the camp is sad because she has to sort through the clothes of people who didn't make it. The characters are what really hooked me. 

Selma has a lot of attitude and courage, and Chaim is a steady guy who wants to protect her. They have a crazy first meeting where a Nazi guard forces Selma to dance at gunpoint, and Chaim steps up to dance with her. The wildest part is they don't even speak the same language at first, but they still fall for each other. 

You can tell the author did a lot of research and even talked to the real family to get the details right, which makes the emotional stuff feel totally real.

The last part of the book gets so intense, when the prisoners plan a huge escape. You will be on the edge of your seat trying to see if they make it out through the gates. It is a pretty heavy and sad read, but it is inspiring because it shows how love can help you survive anything.  

I totally recommend grabbing this book, if you want a great historical book that will stay with you.

Thank you, NetGalley, Scholastic Press, and Sharon Cameron, author, for this ebook. review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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