I happened to pick this book up in a used bookstore because the combination of young adult and WW2 historical literature interests me. It’s Brian Crawford’s story of Julia, a teenage farm girl growing up in Nazi-occupied Poland during the second world war. In addition to the struggles of living under the Nazis, she must keep the farm functioning despite her stepfather’s alcoholism.  

She thinks her life is complicated enough, until trains start running over what had been little-used tracks near the farm and head toward an unknown destination. To make things even more intriguing, she swears she hears screams from that destination in the dead of night.  She and her younger brother sneak down the rails in the middle of the night and discover the trains are taking Holocaust victims to a concentration camp and the sounds they hear are their death screams.  Unlike the other residents of the community, they resolve to oppose the Holocaust in any way they can. 

As I read, I was caught up in the lyrical prose of Crawford’s writing. He presented an accurate and believable picture of occupied Poland. I found Julia a relatable protagonist and rooted for her as she snuck food to the Jewish victims locked in the freight cars, even though it was clear the minuscule amount of food she was able to deliver was not nearly enough to end their suffering. It did not appear authentic to me, however, that it would be possible to hear screams from the distance the camp was from her farm. Also, the story contains a few R-rated words, which may make it not suitable for its intended audience of young readers.  

The novel is listed as book two in a series. If so, it would be well worth your time to read a couple of other books in this series.