#Review - Bluebird by Sharon Cameron #YA #Historical #Fiction

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 464 pages
Release Date: October 5, 2021
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Historical

In 1946, Eva leaves behind the rubble of Berlin for the streets of New York City, stepping from the fiery aftermath of one war into another, far colder one, where power is more important than principles, and lies are more plentiful than the truth. Eva holds the key to a deadly secret: Project Bluebird -- a horrific experiment of the concentration camps, capable of tipping the balance of world power. Both the Americans and the Soviets want Bluebird, and it is something that neither should ever be allowed to possess.

But Eva hasn't come to America for secrets or power. She hasn't even come for a new life. She has come to America for one thing: justice. And the Nazi that has escaped its net.

 

Sharon Cameron, author of the The Light in Hidden Places, which I recently read and reviewed, weaves a taut and affecting thriller ripe with intrigue and romance in this alternately chilling and poignant portrait of the personal betrayals, terrifying injustices, and deadly secrets that seethe beneath the surface in the aftermath of World War II. This story takes place alternatively between 1945, 1946, with a brief stop in 1947. Who is Anna Ptaszynska? 

 

Is she Eva Gerst who arrives in the US in August of 1946 along with Brigit Heidelman who suffered greatly at the hands of Russian soldiers? Eva has a dark secret and revenge on her mind and 27 names on her lips hoping to find the notorious Doctor Von Emmerich who experimented on thousands of prisoners in Sachsenhausen. Or, is she Inge Von Emmerich, daughter of Dr. Von Emmerich, the sole remaining member of the family who may be one of the good Doktor's experiments? 

 

When Eva arrives in America, Eva is ordered by the CIA to participate in project Bluebird – a plot to find a Nazi doctor who was working on developing mind control and is hiding in the US to avoid the Nuremberg trials. and want to know where her father is. That Nazi doctor turns out to be her own father, a brutal man who experiments on people of all ages. Eva wants revenge for the prisoners that were experimented on and for Brigit who was horribly assaulted by Russian soldiers. 

 

But she soon finds out that the CIA isn't the only ones who want to get their hands on Dr. Von Emmerich. The Soviets are patiently waiting for the CIA to screw up so that they can quickly grab the good doctor and force him back to the prison where he left thousands of innocents scared for life, or dead. Two for allies now enemies are eager to collect as many German scientists as they can before they disappear for good. Eva/Brigit's journey is uncomfortable at times. She starts off as member of a German Nazi group, and later realizes that everything she was told was propaganda to brainwash the masses. 

 

She was encouraged to hate Jews, and turn them in whenever she saw one. On her arrival in the US, she meets an assorted group of people from all walks of life and they are not the awful people she was taught to believe. She befriends a group of individuals at the Powell House and The American Friends Service Committee who have escaped from Europe and are hoping to find a better life in America. Here she meets Jake Katz who she has to eventually either trust, or get rid of for feat that he will be another casualty in a mixed up tug of war between two enemies. 

 

Props to Sharon Cameron for all the research and time and valuable sources she used to write this book. They are invaluable to someone like me who loves to read Historical fiction.   Project Bluebird was real, and may still be. Who can really trust what the CIA is doing, or what they're not doing? BLUEBIRD is the cryptonym for a CIA mind control program that ran from 1951 to 1953. Other mind control programs include ARTICHOKE, MKULTRA, and MKSEARCH. 

Fact: Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May 1945. It mainly held political prisoners throughout World War II. The former Soviet Union took it over in May 1945.  26,000 Polish children were stolen from their families and integrated into Germany society by Nazi soldiers. This may be the most unreported fact of the entire aftermath of World War II. These children almost never found their way back home.

Powell House and The American Friends Service Committee are real, and did some wonderful work thanks to those involved. Their mission was peace and friendship. It's something we need in the US right now to bridge between hurdles, anger, and resentment of our own people.  Even though this is marked as Young Adult, I think, and I urge that those older pick up this book and read it. The more you know about he past, the less likely it will carry over into the next generations.

 

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

#Review - The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron #Historical #Holocaust

Series: Standalone
Format: Paperback, 400 pages
Release Date: September 7, 2021
Publisher: Scholastic Inc
Source: Publisher
Genre: Historical / Holocaust

The extraordinary story of Stefania Podgórska, a Polish teenager who chose bravery and humanity by hiding thirteen Jews in her attic during WWII, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sharon Cameron -- now a Reese's Book Club YA Pick!

One knock at the door, and Stefania has a choice to make...

It is 1943, and for four years, sixteen-year-old Stefania has been working for the Diamant family in their grocery store in Przemysl, Poland, singing her way into their lives and hearts. She has even made a promise to one of their sons, Izio -- a betrothal they must keep secret since she is Catholic and the Diamants are Jewish.

But everything changes when the German army invades Przemysl. The Diamants are forced into the ghetto, and Stefania is alone in an occupied city, the only one left to care for Helena, her six-year-old sister. And then comes the knock at the door. Izio's brother Max has jumped from the train headed to a death camp. Stefania and Helena make the extraordinary decision to hide Max, and eventually twelve more Jews. Then they must wait, every day, for the next knock at the door, the one that will mean death. When the knock finally comes, it is two Nazi officers, requisitioning Stefania's house for the German army.

With two Nazis below, thirteen hidden Jews above, and a little sister by her side, Stefania has one more excruciating choice to make.

This remarkable tale of courage and humanity, based on a true story, is now a Reese's Book Club YA Pick!

Author Sharon Cameron's The Light in Hidden Places is the remarkable story about a true heroine named Stefania Podgórska. Stefania Podgórska (June 2, 1921 – September 29, 2018) and her sister Helena Podgórska (born 1935), came from a Catholic farming family near Przemyśl in southeastern Poland. During the Holocaust, Stefania and Helena harbored thirteen Jewish men, women and children in the attic of their home for two-and-a-half years. Both were later honored as the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem as well as by the Jewish and Polish organizations in North America, for their wartime heroism.

The story in this book takes place between 1936 and 1944. Stefania was one of nine children. She really had no voice. On a whim, when she was 13, she decided to leave home and stay with her older sister Marysia. Soon thereafter, she found a job working for Leah Diamant and her families grocery store in Przemysl, Poland, singing her way into their lives and hearts. She has even made a promise to one of their sons, Izio -- a betrothal they must keep secret since she is Catholic and the Diamants are Jewish. Stefania fell in love with the Diamant's, and couldn't understand the hatred that was thrown at them for being Jewish and believing in Moses rather than Jesus.

 

In 1939, the bombs fell on Poland, and the Germans invaded. Stefi's family scattered across Poland. Soon after the arrival of the Nazis, her mother and brother were taken to Salzburg for forced labor, while the Diamants were forced into a ghetto. The city she now calls home is divided by Russia and Germany and will remain that way until 1941 when Germans gain the upper hand and start on their mass murder spree of political adversaries, Romanovs, Ukrainians, and of course, Jews. On a trip back home, Stefania discovered that her younger sister Helene was left alone, and nobody was watching her or feeding her. 

 

So, she decided that she would try to take care of her sister. The two Podgórski sisters lived in Przemyśl alone in an apartment rented by Stefania, who was 17 at the time, as well as a roommate who was in and out. Stefania and Helena make the extraordinary decision to hide Max, who had escaped a death train, and eventually twelve more Jews. Then they waited, every day, for the next knock at the door, the one that will mean death. When the knock finally comes, it is two Nazi officers, requisitioning Stefania's house for the German army. 

For years they had to worry about getting caught. They even had an SS officer living next door! The rules were: Death to anyone who aids Jews; Death to anyone who harbors a Jew; Death to anyone who feeds a Jew; Death to anyone who provides transportation for a Jew; Death for anyone who takes money from a Jew; and Jews weren't allowed to keep their homes, or their businesses, or their bank accounts. Things got progressively worse in Poland with food shortages and people being taken from the Ghetto to trains and concentration camps where they would never been seen from again. 

 

For 8 months, the Jewish fugitives begged the sisters to flee for their safety. They refused. After an intensive 8 months of worrying when the other shoe would drop, and wondering when she and her sister wold be deported to Germany with her mother and brother, Germany flees Poland the the 13 Jews find themselves scattering to the wind. Except Max who would later become Stefania's husband. Cameron apparently used Stefania's bibliography to fill in holes while also knowing that she couldn't write a 1,000 documentary. There was also a movie made about Stefania called Hidden in Silence.

It is fair to give Stefania a whole lot of accolades for what she did. But never, and I mean, never forget Helene who could have destroyed the entire setup up if she had told the wrong person. I am grateful that Sharon Cameron did so much work to gather all the information and put it in this book. It was utterly beautiful. I believe she did a good job with what she had to deal with and the fact that she took time to travel to Poland to walk in Stefania's shoes.

  

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

Monday #Review - The Knowing by Sharon Cameron #YALIT #SyFy

Series: The Forgetting # 2
Format: E-Book, 448 pages
Release Date: October 10, 2017
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Edelweiss
Genre: Young Adult / Science Fiction

Sharon Cameron returns to the rich world of The Forgetting with a companion novel as thrilling and intricately crafted as the first. 

Samara is one of the Knowing, and the Knowing do not forget. Hidden deep in the comfort and splendor of her underground city, a refuge from the menace of a coming Earth, Samara learns what she should have never known and creates a memory so terrible she cannot live with it. So she flees, to Canaan, the lost city of her ancestors, to Forget.

Beckett has flown through the stars to find a dream: Canaan, the most infamous social experiment of Earth's antiquity. Beckett finds Samara in the ruins of the lost city, and uncovers so much more than he ever bargained for -- a challenge to all he's ever believed in or sworn to. When planets collide and memories clash, can Samara and Beckett save two worlds, and remember love in a place that has forgotten it?

At once thought-provoking and utterly thrilling, this extraordinary companion novel to Sharon Cameron's #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling THE FORGETTING explores the truth and loss that lie within memory, and the bonds that hold us together

The Knowing, by author Sharon Cameron, is the companion novel to the original The Forgetting. The story actually takes place a hundred years after the original story. It features Samara Archiva and Beckett Rodriguez which means the story alternates between characters. Samara doesn't forget anything, nor does she have to write anything down to remember it like Nadia was told to do. And she isn't the only one. Safe underground in the city of New Canaan, she lives in a privileged world free from the Forgetting.

Yet she wonders if she really is free, with the memories that plague her and secrets that surround her. Samara is determined to unearth the answers, even if she must escape to the old, cursed city of Canaan to find them. Meanwhile, there is a spaceship on the way to Canaan from Earth searching for those who came before them and searching for answers. Beck is traveling with his parents, researchers tasked with finding the abandoned settlement effort. When Beck is stranded without communication, he will find more in Canaan than he was ever trained for.

What will happen when worlds and memories, beliefs -- and truths -- collide? For Samara, this is what's called her 12th year. This year she faces Judgment by the Council. Council weights accumulated sins and deems a person worthy or unworthy. The unworthy are condemned. After seeing a friend of hers fall to her death, and another poisoned, Sam flees for the place called the cursed city. This is where Sam runs into Beck and a girl named Jillian who are among those from Earth searching for the lost ship called Centauri II, and it's crew. 

This is not a rarity. Each time a ship arrives on planet, it has a tendency of disappearing. On this planet, Earth is the enemy and so is there technology. If you've read The Forgetting, then you understand why the Knowing fears it so much. Where the Knowing remember everything they've learned, The Forgetting lose themselves and their memories. If you are looking for a repeat of Nadia and Gray, it's not happening. In fact, since this story takes place 100 years after the end of their story, the only ones to still be alive would have to be the descendents of Nadia and Gray.

As for the romance angle, Beck and Sam have what's definitely called an uneasy alliance. Beck wants to know what happened to those who came before him, while Sam is searching for answers in how to stop Knowing everything that she's ever done. Each character is fine on their own. Together they bring an interesting dynamic that really looks into the idea of memories and how they make us who we are. Beck's problems are because of his own people, and a commander who has her own agenda.

One could say the same thing for Sam. Sam's own people, including a secretive group, pretty much run everything. They've been keeping an eye on Sam, and know that she's done things that could get her condemned. They are against keeping any forms of records, and have done away with keeping archives. The Knowing are encouraged to cache their memories, which is an interesting idea in itself. Instead of reliving bad memories over and over again, you can just store them away. 

Would I recommend this book? Yes, although I had a minor issue with getting going. The opening sequences of this book are really slow and you really have to pay attention to certain Easter eggs the author lays at your feet to understand what is happening and why. Do you have to read the Forgetting first? Nah. This book can definitely be read as a standalone. However, I definitely recommend that you do read The Forgetting to learn about the dreaded occurrence that happens to people. 

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble |  Kobo

#Friday Review - The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron (YA, Science Fiction) @CameronSharonE @Scholastic

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 403 pages
Release Date: September 13, 2016
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Source: Library
Genre: YA, Science Fiction

What isn't written, isn't remembered. Even your crimes.

Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories – of parents, children, love, life, and self – are lost. Unless they have been written.

In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn't written the truth. Because Nadia is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten.

But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence – before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her.

The Forgetting, by author Sharon Cameron, is a standalone story that features Nadia, a girl of undetermined age, who lives in a walled city called Canaan with her mother and two sisters. It is place where books are more important than anything else because they carry your memories. You are supposed to carry your book with you at all times, and you are supposed to write the truth in your book because they are your sole identity after what the author is calling The Forgetting. Every 12 years, the citizens of Canaan go through The Forgetting. 

Sometimes, people who lose their books, lose who they once were and end up among those that are considered Lost. This is not the case for Nadia who remembers her life before The Forgetting. She remembers what her own father did with her book. She remembers things that nobody else does and that makes her unique. To say that Nadia is a loner, is pretty accurate. She has no real friends. Her mother is forgetful and apparently doesn't remember who Nadia is. That gives Nadia plenty of time to explore outside the walls of Canaan that was supposedly built to keep trouble out.

What changes things for Nadia, is when she meets Gray, the glassblower's son who goes along on the journey with Nadia to discover why people lose their memories, and if there is anything that can be done to change things before The Forgetting once again overtakes Canaan. Once Nadia and Gray discover a shocking truth, things will never be the same in Canaan again. Nadia is far from a verbose lead character. She's clever, quiet, and smart as a whip.

She keeps her secrets close to her chest because to allow anyone else to know that she remembers, could lead to even more problems. She gets caught in Gray's web surprisingly easy without seeing it coming. But, there are things about Gray that leave Nadia chaffing a bit wondering if there is more to him than meets the eyes. There is such a clever ending to this book, that I give full credit to the author for keeping the secret without letting it out too early. 

Sharon Cameron is also the author of such books as Rook, The Dark Unwinding, & A Spark Unseen, all of which I have read and reviewed. Cameron is a clever writer who I love reading her books because nothing is as it seems. There is always some sort of twist just waiting to jump out and surprise you. In the case of this story, Cameron's world really is a secretive one. You know about the City of Canaan, but not how the citizens arrived there in the first place. 

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Kobo