Number the Stars
Lois Lowry (1989)
“A ten-year-old girl helps hide her best friend from the Nazis — and discovers that ordinary people can choose to be brave.”
Why This Book Matters
Number the Stars won the Newbery Medal in 1990 and has been continuously in print since. It is one of the most-assigned novels in American middle school education and has introduced more young readers to the history of the Holocaust and the Danish rescue than any other work of fiction. Unlike most Holocaust fiction for young readers, it focuses on rescuers rather than victims — offering a model of resistance rather than only a record of suffering.
Firsts & Innovations
One of the first works of young adult/middle-grade Holocaust fiction to center a non-Jewish child as protagonist, making the moral choice to help the central drama
One of the earliest works for young readers to depict the historical detail of the cocaine-treated resistance packet, verified by Danish historians
Established a template for historical fiction for middle-grade readers: first-person-close narration, verifiable events, child protagonist, moral clarity without sentimentality
Cultural Impact
Newbery Medal 1990 — the highest distinction in American children's literature
Assigned in grades 4-8 across the United States as an entry point to World War II and Holocaust history
Has introduced the Danish Rescue of 1943 to millions of young American readers who might not encounter it in standard history curricula
The novel's emphasis on ordinary courage as accessible — not superheroic but available to anyone — has been cited by educators as one of the most effective tools for teaching civic resistance
Dedicated to Anneliese Platt, whose memories directly shaped the narrative — a documented link between living memory and literary transmission
Banned & Challenged
Number the Stars has appeared on challenged book lists primarily due to its depiction of war violence (soldiers menacing children, the deaths of Lise and Peter) and its portrayal of deception as morally justified. The irony — that a book about the necessity of lying to murderous authority is challenged for depicting deception — has been frequently noted by educators.