The Ark

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Summary: Why doesn't somebody reprint this?!
Review: "The Ark" has to be one of the three best YA novels ever written about the aftermath of World War II (and Benary-Isbert wrote the other two as well). The Lechow family were never Nazis, but they got they swept up in events beyond their control. The father, a doctor, was apparently drafted in 1943 and sent to the Russian Front, where he was captured and sent to Siberia. The rest of the family has been forced to flee their home in Pomerania--not because the region has been returned to the Poles (Dr. Lechow often treated the poorer citizens of that ethnicity free of charge), but because it has fallen under Russian control and they're of no mind to exchange one totalitarian government for another. So, after nine months of wandering, they have come, in October of 1946, to the province of Hesse, where the Housing Office sends them to live in the attic of Mrs. Verduz's home at No. 13 Parsley Street. Oldest son Matthias, 15 1/2, who yearns to be an astronomer, finds himself working construction--though the job does lead to a firm friendship with musician Dieter and his band, the Cellar Rats. Little Joey, going on seven, has his doubts about the prospect of school, but it brings him a very special friend, the orphan refugee Hans Ulrich, and their "treasure" hunting in the old ruin leads to surprising rewards. Andrea, not yet ten, is the most resilient of the band (except perhaps for their hard-working mother): when she gets a scholarship to the lycee, she's happy. Margret, who will be fourteen in December, is the most deeply affected by all the changes they've endured: she mourns the death of her twin brother Christian and the family Great Dane, Cosi, who were killed by what we assume were plundering Russian soldiers, and the loss of all opportunity to fulfill her dream of becoming a veterinarian. Yet it's her love for animals that not only opens a crack in Mrs. Verduz's defenses but also brings the family to a new life at Mrs. Almut's farm outside the neighboring village of Hellborn. The author sketches each family member and her other major characters--Dieter, Hans Ulrich, Mrs. Verduz, Mrs. Almut, Marri the old "bee-witch"--lightly yet with consummate skill, making each a distinct individual, and portrays vividly and affectingly the hardships, and the underlying revival of hope, in post-War West Germany. It's a crime that this excellent book has been allowed to fall out of print--and that so many libraries are weeding their copies out. Get one for yourself while you can. Like all the finest juveniles, it's equally as enjoyable by adults as by kids.

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Summary: LOVE, FAMILY, AND ADVERSITY
Review: THE ARK is one of the best books ever written. It has a gentle power to it that makes me glow when I read it and re-read it. It is a story of rebuilding, of finding a new home and a new place to belong. Hope is what this book is. Hope for the future. The Lechows make the best of less than desirable circumstances, finding goodness everywhere they can. The characters are well-developed and real. They take you with them on their emotional journeys and they stay with you after you read the final page. This is a book that deeply touched me. Simply put, it is just Beautiful.

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Summary: WORTH AS MANY STARS AS THERE ARE IN THE SKY
Review: THE ARK is one of the best books ever written. It has a gentle power to it that makes me glow when I read it and re-read it. It is a story of rebuilding, of finding a new home and a new place to belong. Hope is what this book is. Hope for the future. The Lechows make the best of less than desirable circumstances, finding goodness everywhere they can. The characters are well-developed and real. They take you with them on their emotional journeys and they stay with you after you read the final page. This is a book that deeply touched me. Simply put, it is just Beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: LOVE, FAMILY, AND ADVERSITY
Review: This classic children's book uses The Odyssey and post-World War II Germany as its basis. The Lechow family (Mother and four kids) have been forced from their family farm with the return of German land to Poland after World War II. With their father still lost in camps in Russia and the death of a fifth child still fresh in their minds, the Lechows have finally found a place to call a temporary home. They are sent to an elderly woman's home to take two rooms and at first fear that the older woman will not accept four children in their house. Luckily she grudgingly lets them stay the first night and never quite makes it to the housing office to force them out, eventually coming to love them. The family needs to find work or schooling for all, Margaret needs to find a place for herself alone now that her twin is dead, and Matthias aches to become an astronomer one day. The children's love for their parents and each other comes through clearly but without a lot of sentimentality.

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Summary: "TO CARRY YOU OVER THE ROUGH SEAS" OF LIFE
Review: This gently-paced novel is a bit of a sleeper, but charming in its homespun simplicity. The first portion of the book describes the difficult and painful existence of displaced German families--unwelcome refugees in their own country. THE ARK was written to enlighten American youth about the horrors of homelessness, separated families and unreasonable prejudice. This book contains no battle memories or war atrocities, but proves that German burocracy is second to none.

Since Mrs. Lechow, a small seamstress, has four children to house and feed, we are not sure for the first 100 pages which of them is the protagonist, as in modern YA novels. Gradually the activities focus on the older teens, Matthias and Margret, as they are weaned from their two upper rooms in Parsley Street to a farm with real animals and crops. The book particularly chronicles Margret's transformation from gawky teenager (privately mourning the death of her twin brother) into a capable farm woman like her mentor.

Before the War the German Railroad had offered old passengers cars for sale, which Mrs. Almut had purchased but not really used. Now it becomes the perfect place for the Lechow teens and is promptly christened, THE ARK. But how can it become a real home--which Margret is sure she will never have again--with half the family elsewhere--including their father, a POW in Russia? Will Margret learn to live with her personal loss, yet not be scarred for future happiness? This is an introspective gem for those who appreciate the importance of holding on to Family and learning how to release past Tragedy. So relax and savor the slower pace, the quiet humor, the cycles of the seasons for two years, and the ultimate time of harvest for the soul.