Irena's Children: A True Story of Courage by Tilar Mazzeo (adapted for young readers by Mary Cronk Farrell)

My copy looked like this but included
"Young Readers Edition" under the title
and "adapted by Mary Cronk Farrell"
under the author's name.

Pages: 243

Intended Audience: Mature Tweens and up

Genre: Biography / Holocaust

Notes for Parents: Some mature content and disturbing scenes

The Inside Cover

This young readers edition of Irena’s Children tells the incredible untold story of Irena Sendler, a courageous Polish woman now nicknamed “the female Oskar Schindler” who saved the lives of 2,500 children during one of the worst times in modern history. With guts of steel and unfaltering bravery, Irena smuggled children out of the walled Jewish ghetto in Warsaw. She put them in toolboxes and coffins, snuck them under overcoats at checkpoints, and slipped them through the dank sewers and into secret passages that led to abandoned buildings, where she convinced her friends and underground resistance network to hide them.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

Except for diplomats who issued visas to help Jews flee Nazi-occupied Europe, Sendler saved more Jews than any other individual during the Holocaust. In 1965, she was recognized by the State of Israel as righteous among the Nations. Late in life, she was awarded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest honor, for her wartime humanitarian efforts. In 2007, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

What’s good?

This is a gripping true story filled with heart-stopping moments, painful failures, and poignant victories. Irena Sendler and her network (aided by the underground Polish resistance) smuggled money, information, forged papers, food, and people (especially children and babies) in and out of the Warsaw Ghetto at great risk. The dangers were mindboggling and the depth of their courage was inconceivable. This remarkable story reads like a novel, is well-organized, and has a good pace. The historical details are kept to a minimum, but the read can clearly see the Nazi’s methodical oppression, segregation, deportation, and eventual extermination of the Jewish race. The story is both shocking and mesmerizing.

Best Part: The inclusion of photographs makes it even more real.

What isn’t good?

There were some editing issues, like missing words, that should have been easily caught before publication.

Worst part: Nothing.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☺☺ (5/5)

This book was exceptional. The adaptation makes this intense and disturbing story accessible to students. However, it contains mature content that will be difficult for some sensitive readers. This is an important story, especially now, as we witness a resurgence of politically-led bigotry, racism, and xenophobia. Despite the harsh realities, this story is ultimately about friendship, determination, and the extraordinary audacity of one woman who, at great risk, led a group on a humanitarian mission that saved over 2000 people. 

Mazzeo, Tilar J. Irena’s Children: A True Story of Courage. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2016. (Young Readers Edition adapted by Mary Cronk Farrell)