Review Detail

‘The Missing: The True Story of My Family in WWII’ by Michael Rosen shares the story of a family who disappeared during WWII and the Holocaust. The narrative, written more for a juvenile audience than an adult one, does a nice job of connecting with both children and adults. At times, it reveals itself to be much more intense than children can fully grasp, revealing the Nazi plot to do their best to make the world forget not just the Rosen family, but the rest of Europe's Jews as well. The moral impressed upon readers by the end of the memoir is simply to remember, because if forgotten, history is much more likely to repeat itself.

There are poems interspersed throughout the pages of the book that add metaphorical value, drawing readers into the world of WWII and what was happening during that time period.

Despite a bit of confusion here and there with similar names, which cannot really be helped since the author is using real names, the story does a nice job of engaging readers in the struggle that too many feel when they are forced to run and don't know where to go or what to do once there. The section with further reading in the back of the book provides a lot of great material for firsthand accounts, fiction, and nonfiction to allow readers, whether younger or older, to further ensure their understanding of what this time period involved and how we must never forget its impact.