When the World was Ours

Author: Liz Kessler
Publisher: Aladdin

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Emily Windsnap series, Liz Kessler, comes a poignant and harrowing story of three young friends whose fates are intertwined during the devastation of the Holocaust—based on a true story. Three friends. One memory. Vienna. 1936. Three young friends—Leo, Elsa and Max—spend a perfect day together, unaware that around them Europe is descending into a growing darkness and that they will soon be cruelly ripped apart from one another. With their lives taking them across Europe—to Germany, England, Prague, and Poland—will they ever find their way back to one another? Will they want to? Inspired by a true story, When the World Was Ours is an extraordinary novel that is as powerful as it is heartbreaking and that shows how the bonds of love, family and friendship allow glimmers of hope to flourish, even in the most hopeless of times.

I took my case to my bedroom and began to pack. Soon it was almost filled with clothes, books, a few toys and some odds and ends. I opened my drawer by my bed and took out the photograph from my ninth birthday. Sitting on the side of my bed, I squinted at the photo. It was hard to believe it was only three years ago. It felt like a lifetime. The carefree smiles on our faces-- I couldn’t imagine smiling so freely like that ever again. The last happy day of my childhood and the day we had met Mr. and Mrs. Stewart. A tickle and a chase and a trip over a lady’s foot. And to make up for it, an extra ride on the Ferris wheel and a piece of Sachertorte. That was what we had given them. And in return they were offering us a whole new life.

When the World was Ours is a novel set in World War II Europe, in the midst of the German invasion of Poland and its surrounding countries. The novel depicts a story of horror, hope and salvation that is written in the perspective of all three main characters: Max, Elsa and Leo. These three best friends begin their adventure in 1936 Vienna, as nine-year-old children living (quite literally) “the best day of their lives.” As the days, month and years unfold throughout the novel, the children’s lives are changed drastically, as life’s circumstances rip them apart and force them through different experiences. These grueling experiences allow readers to obtain a frightening glimpse into Holocaust reality in order to empathize with and understand just some of the alarming moments that society and the people within it had to undergo.

Liz Kessler has a profound way of combining simplicity with a gripping, action-packed story that had me reading on and on. I almost couldn’t put the book down. When I did, I was thinking about the characters all day, wondering what would happen next. The story has a phenomenal sense of urgency that takes you back in time and makes you wonder about history and all that happened during those trying times. I definitely recommend this novel to my young readers who have a hard time empathizing with and understanding history’s moments and the experiences of the people those moments touched. This novel is a quick and easy read that holds your attention through to the very end.

- N.R.