The Silenced by James DeVitaJames DeVita (taken from the back of his book): is a professional actor and the resident playwright for the First Stage Children's Theater, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has been awarded the Distinguished Play Award from the American Alliance of Theater and Education for his work in theater for youth, and he is a recent recipient of the Literature Fellowship for Fiction from the National Endowment for the Arts. He lives in Wisconsin with his wife and two children.
Marena is haunted by memories of her mother and her old life. Every time she remembers something she tries to write it down, she can’t forget. The only thing left of hers, truly hers is her memory. Now, she is living with her father (who is under house arrest) and her younger brother Daniel in a camp run by the ‘Zero Tolerance Party’. This party is literally taking over their world, forcing them to drop all individualism, and become one, all believing and fighting for the same thing: this horrible government. Marena starts to resist with her friends Dex and Eric. They form a resistance called ‘the White Rose’ based off her mother’s beliefs. Slowly but surely their efforts start to show but will it come crashing to the ground?
The resistance, ‘the White Rose’ is loosely based off a similar resistance around 1942 when the Nazi’s were at large. The story of Marena and her memories is very inspiring. Her courage, strength, and weaknesses are examples of hundreds of people who fought and are fighting now in resistance groups.
2 comments:
I loved this book, too. It was powerful and moving. I kept asking myself, would I have the courage to resist in a similar situation? I hope so, but I don't know if I would.
Whoa, I *just* got this book in the mail! Guess I'll have to read it.... :)
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