An utterly amazing, true, first-person account of one girl's experience in wartime. Irene Gut Opdyke was a Catholic Polish nursing student when WWII broke out. She soon became mired in the horrors of central Europe as, at various times, a partisan, a refugee, a housekeeper to the Nazis and, over all, as a heroine. She singlehandedly saved the lives of at least 16 Jewish people from the Holocaust. Now living in America and aged 77, Irene, with the help of a respected historical novelist, has told her story with all the power and passion that such a remarkable history can inspire.

 

This book has been graded for interest at 12-17 years.

There are 288 pages in this book. This book was published 2010 by Cornerstone .

Irene Gut Opdyke has spoken to hundreds of school, church and other community groups about her momentous wartime experiences. She has been honoured in both the US and in Israel, at the Avenue of the Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust Memorial Yad Vashem. She has now collected her memories together in this autobiography of her girlhood, with the help of a respected American novelist. Author lives: USA Jennifer Armstrong is the author of numerous award-winning picture books and novels. Her works include Hugh Can Do and Chin Yu Min and the Ginger Cat (both ALA Notable books); The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan (a BCCB Blue Ribbon Book); and Black-Eyed Susan (a New York Public Library Best Book). Her first novel, Steal Away, was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA Notable book, and a Golden Kite Honor book. Other titles include Pockets, Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World, Magnus at the Fire, Photo by Brady, and Once Upon a Banana. She lives in New York State.