Prisoner B-3087

Ten concentration camps. Ten different places where you are starved, tortured and worked mercilessly. It’s something on one could imagine surviving. But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face.

As a Jewish Boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken over. Everything he has and everyone he loves have been brutally snatched from him.

…He encounters evil he could never have imagined, but also sees surprising glimpses of hope amid the horror.

Another historical fiction about World War 2, basically the flip side of The Boy who Dared which I also reviewed here.
Overall, I would say it’s about the same rating I had given to The Boy who Dared. An adequate, but not overly unique book about the Holocaust.

This book is however, based on a true story where Yanek Gruener goes through all ten concentration camps alive. I loved every moment of it. Were the chapter repetitive? He did go in and out of 10 concentration camps. Yes, I guess you can consider it like that but it’s not boring. It’s about someone’s survival story after all and no chapter did I feel like reading something else.

The things Gruener had to go through was awful and it made you really get into it. When were the Allies going to come and save him from his horror? The way Alan Gratz wrote this book motivated you to read on. It wasn’t the most descriptive writing I ever read, but it kept me interested.

In all honesty? I wouldn’t be able to differentiate from one camp to another. It all seemed like one blur of a camp. But the moment that left an impression on me was the moment Yanek realizes he was saved. I felt really satisfied and relaxed at the end like yes, give him all the food and warmth he deserves. It makes you sit back and think ‘wow he finally made it’.

I enjoyed reading this book and I recommend you reading it. It’s a short read and you’ll finish it in no time. (Unless you’re like me and have so much stuff to do)

4/5 breadsticks