The Extra

by Kathryn Lasky

Is the chance to serve as an extra for Hitler’s favorite filmmaker a chance at life — or a detour on the path to inevitable extermination?

One ordinary afternoon, fifteen-year-old Lilo and her family are suddenly picked up by Hitler’s police and imprisoned as part of the "Gypsy plague." Just when it seems certain that they will be headed to a labor camp, Lilo is chosen by filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl to work as a film extra. Life on the film set is a bizarre alternate reality. The surroundings are glamorous, but Lilo and the other extras are barely fed, closely guarded, and kept in a locked barn when not on the movie set. And the beautiful, charming Riefenstahl is always present, answering the slightest provocation with malice, flaunting the power to assign prisoners to life or death. Lilo takes matters into her own hands, effecting an escape and running for her life. In this chilling but ultimately uplifting novel, Kathryn Lasky imagines the lives of the Gypsies who worked as extras for the real Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, giving readers a story of survival unlike any other.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical, World War II, Holocaust, Fiction, War

320 pages, Hardcover

First published October 8, 2013

About the author

Kathryn Lasky, also known as Kathryn Lasky Knight and E. L. Swann, is an award-winning American author of over one hundred books for children and adults. Best known for the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, her work has been translated into 19 languages and includes historical fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction.

Reviews

[SB · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this story had potential and explored an important element of the past, the novel lacked emotional depth. The jilted scene cuts that passed across lengthy periods of time felt awkward and confusing. The novel may have been stronger if it focused more on the filming process and going into more depth behind the scenes, rather than trying to include undeveloped threaded details across a longer stretch of time.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

*SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD*

To be honest I am not sure how I feel about this book and that's why I gave it three stars.

It wasn't a bad book, I've read worse. But at the same time it wasn't a good book.

I didn't like it because I thought her descriptions of the Holocaust were either too sugar coated or there were none at all. The Holocaust is such a disgusting, horrific topic to write about, and I expected more from her writing, I mean come on! Use paragraphs!!! I couldn't tell wether or not the scene has changed or the time has changed. And *SPOILER ALERT* when she was hiding in Marta's house I thought she was there for a few months!! Not years!!! But the absolute worse was when she was in Ravensburg.
At start of the chapter and it was two years since her being found and she just got the medical surgery that she had been trying to avoid the whole time! And the details of how she felt and her experiences before weren't even stated!!
I can understand if she didn't want to get into detail about what exactly happened during the operation but she probably should have given some sort of back ground story, like I don't know told about her being selected for the surgery, and her feelings towards it. Because given by the way she had Lilo talk about it, it almost seemed like she didn't even think about it.

There were a couple of good plot twists along the way. And I like the fact there was a bit of romance, but it didn't cover up the main idea of the story. And a few more redeeming qualities, that made this story okay.

[Shae · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sometimes when a book fails, it fails from not from what it did do but what it didn’t.

*** Due to my vehement opposition to recent Goodreads policy changes, I will no longer be posting full reviews on this site. TO READ MY FULL REVIEW, GO TO: http://www.shaelit.com/2013/10/review...

[Nusrat Mahmood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average one. But a very interesting side.I have always read wwii fiction where jews are the victims.It is the first book where the victims ae gypsies and I have gathered some little yet meaningful knowledge about their lifestyles, struggles and culture.

Moreover the story is not very intriguing yet heart wrenching.

[Heather Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started out with lack of emotion for me. It could have had depth. It had potential, but the story-telling was scattered. The emotion and tension of the book did not seem to build until around 200 pages and towards the closure of the story. Even then, it seemed lackluster and disappointing, which is sad, because this story has so much promise.

And the ending, if we must call it that, lacked resolution and seemed to end in the middle of the conclusion. I feel like I am missing at least another twenty pages to wrap this story nicely. Instead, the resolution is abrupt.

If this could have been told differently, if the scenes had been described differently... For example, the character deaths or disappearances were stated matter-a-fact that it seemed to lose its power through its story-telling. It was missing the emotion, the depth, the rawness of the moment, the reflection.

As I have stated over and over, many of elements of this book were lacking for me, and that is how I would describe this entire read as a whole as well: lacking and disappointing.

I love the historical fiction roots and the author's note explaining its fact and fiction. I enjoyed what the author took liberty with, but this story could have been more thoughtfully approached rather than missing its cohesion, depth, and emotion.

[Cayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have used another whole book just about the second half of her life - didn't love how rushed the end felt.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a historical fiction book about the holocaust and how they dealt with the Gypsies. A famous German Actress and director used them as extras in the movie because they could pass as Spaniards, which the movie was about. It shows how they were treated and gives you a different look at the war where we usually only hear about the Jews. The actress actually died in 2003. I found it very interesting as well as disturbing.

[Lowlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that the writer told the story keeping th human emotions that a young girl could experience while still keeping in mind that there's not much time to actually entertain that in soe sense because of what time they find themselves in where survival is the highest concern and other things grow dim (if you haven't yet succumbed to lossing hope entirely even living)

[Missy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually read young adult books, but I really enjoyed this historical fiction book about a young gypsy girl that played a double for Hitler's favorite actress.

[Yael Itamar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edit 1/19/2015: Something I didn't realize at the time I wrote the review was that the term "gypsy" is considered a slur. Since I wasn't sure whether the terms "Roma" and "Romani" could also be used for Sinti, I opted to use the word "Gypsy" when I was referring to the Roma and Sinti collectively. (The book used the term "Gypsy" so I assumed it was okay. Then again, I don't think the author herself is Roma/Sinti, so maybe she wasn't aware of the correct terminology(?))

After several weeks of being on social justice tumblrs, I've decided that I should edit this review to make it less offensive. (From what I can gather, "Roma" can refer either to the specific Roma ethnicity, or to all of the different Romani groups (Roma, Sinti, Kale, etc) as a whole.)

I apologize for my ignorance on the matter.

This book tackles an underexplored perspective on the Holocaust--the lives of Romani who were forced to serve as extras in a movie produced by the Nazi regime. Despite all the hours I spent learning about Holocaust in Jewish school, all I really knew about Romani was that they were also discriminated against and sent to concentration camps, so I'm glad I finally got to learn about it from a different viewpoint. (Apparently, "Roma" isn't a catch-all term for gypsy--it only refers to a particular ethnicity/group of gypsies (the "stereotypical" nomadic ones).see above The protagonist of the story is Sinti (think middle class, craftspeople, more "assimilated"). I don't think I've ever heard of Sinti before, which probably indicates a serious flaw in my education.)

This book has a very strong "illusion vs reality" theme, as well as some themes that are sadly still relevant to modern times, like cultural appropriation and whitewashing. (Romani were chosen as extras because they're dark-skinned, and the movie is supposed to be set in Spain, while the main characters, even though they're also supposed to be Spanish, are played by pale-skinned Aryans.)

One element that stood out for me was the prose. It's very direct and minimalistic, which might not appeal to every reader, but I thought that it worked well. There were parts that felt almost like stream-of-consciousness, without being pretentious or overly trippy.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Extra by Kathryn Lasky is the tale of a young Sinti girl living in Vienna during World War II. At the beginning, she is still able to go to school and live in her house, though the Nazi government is keeping tracking of all Gypsy families. However, they soon change their minds which send Lilo and her parents to a series of internment camps. One of which is where Lilo and her mother find a temporary escape--being extras in a movie.

The director Leni Riefenstahl is creating a movie about a Spanish woman living in a small village. To add authenticity to the movie, Lilo and her mother, along with a handful of other Gypsy prisoners including Django, the one who can find out anything, are given the chance to be in the movie. Although the work is not difficult, they are all kept imprisoned within a farmer's barn and continue to be fed as little as possible. Though Lilo knows Leni is a vicious woman, she plays the part she is assigned and cooperates until she has her moment to escape. But there's no telling what will happen once she does.

This book, though the subject matter can be hard at times, is a realistic look into the lives of one of the groups that were brutalized for who they were during World War II. Through Lilo's eyes readers get a glimpse of the real-life Leni Riefenstahl and the privileges she had because of her connection to the Nazi government. This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in World War II and learning about the lives that were so deeply impacted during the war.

*Reviewer received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Disclaimer, I was sent this by Walker books for an honest review.

15 year old Lilo is a gypsy girl, living in Vienna in the 1940's. When her and her family are rounded up by the Nazi's and sent to a camp.
Hilter's favorite movie director, Leni Riefensthal, visits the camp, looking for Gypsy extra's for a movie she is making.

This was a really interesting read, as it had the elements of real life to it. Leni Riefensthal, was a really person, she really did visit camps, to cast Gypsy extras for her movie Tiefland, in the 1940s while the war was on.

We can often forget, that the Nazi's didn't just go after the Jews, all non "Master Race" were attacked. Including Gypsys, Disabled, Gay, old, ect ect.

The visual and emotional description in this book, is compelling and very well written.
one piece i feel shows this, is the description of a morning, about half way through the book.

" the moon and stars were gone, the sun not up yet, there was only a vast nothingness. As though god were yawning, a huge, abyssal yawn."

You see the story through the eyes of Leni, her character is very, matter of fact. No punches are pulled, from the more gruesome moments of her story. To her sometimes, absent moments. She sees and feels everything, but at times she cannot deal with what is happening. So she just goes through the motions. I really liked this aspect of the writing, as it felt very true to life.

A lot of accurate history has been put into this book, and I have to say. It was an unexpected, very enjoyable read. The ending was balanced just right as well.

[kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure what rating to give this. While I liked it, the writing did feel it was more at the Y end of the YA genre. Not that this was necessarily a bad thing, but some of the content is fairly adult for a younger reader. And so sad.
I kept almost putting this aside several times. I think the writing style simply didn't grab me. I think because it is written in third person, there is a bit of distance between the reader and the action, perhaps purposely done, but this didn't quite work for me. I wish there had been more connection with Lilo.
This tells the little-known story of European gypsies being used as extras in a movie made by Leni Reifenstahl, the favorite movie-maker for the Nazis. And all I can really say without spoiling the book is that evil has many faces, some of them quite beautiful.
I'd have liked for there to be a bit more story, for some resolution for Lilo and what she hopes for. I think just an epilogue one way or the other, would have been a better ending. However, it might have been too sad and perhaps the author didn't want to end on what might be such a sad note.
So, all in all, I think this is a very interesting subject matter, but perhaps I could have enjoyed the actual telling more, so I'll give it a three. Yeah, a three.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting to read a fictional account of Gypsies during the Holocaust, especially those who were called to be extras on the set of Leni Riefenstahl's movie. I knew that forced sterilization happened in Nazi Germany, but hadn't yet read any literature besides this that dealt with that topic. Lasky's technique of bringing in other texts here was still interesting but felt more forced and lackluster than it did in Ashes, where the other snippets of text she used felt like they really wove together with the narrative and contributed to its depth. This book launched into the plot too quickly for me; I felt like I never really got attached to any of the characters, even though I did want to know what happened to them. It also felt like the plot got a bit unhinged as the movie filming ended; from there on out, the book felt more like an account of someone's life and less like a novel (a pretty depressing account, which is not surprising given the period).

[Sally · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love to read stories of survival against the odds, I have quite a link with the holocaust through my family history and was really interested in the concept of this book so moved it to the front of my reading pile when I found it.
WHAT A LET DOWN. It failed to weave a realistic and believable backdrop for the story (which ironically is REAL) and I found myself finding it very hard to care for many of the leading characters.
I forced myself to finish it, even though I found it a chore in the hope that there would be some reward for the reader n the plot development. No such luck.
What a shame. I wanted to love this book, but found it hard to give a damn. :(

[lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad writing, completely horrible dialogue. I was excited to read about gypsies in the holocaust, but it fell so so flat. This was unreadable.

[Jenna Weaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kathryn Lasky delivers a fascinating story of a gypsy girl named Lilo whose family is taken by the SS during the Nazi power. After being transported from the ghetto to one concentration camp in Austria, Lilo never sees her father again, but is chosen, along with her mother and a few other gypsies to be extras in a new movie produced by Leni Riefenstahl. Lilo refers to herself as a film slave because she and the other gypsies are forced to eat watery potato soup for every meal and live in a barn guarded at all times. She makes a friend in Django, a teenage boy who has been in the concentration camps longer than Lilo, and he teaches her to think quickly to keep herself safe. Lilo eventually runs away from the filming site, but always fears she will be caught and put back in a concentration camp until the story ends. Lilo's struggle to find her identify after being reduced to another film slave, and her contemplation of hope and death make this story incredibly engaging.
Lasky based Lilo off a real gypsy who was cast as an extra in the movie directed by Leni Riefenstahl, a real person during the Hitler reign. The book is an excellent story that reminds us that Jews were not the only group targeted by the Nazis. It would be a fantastic addition to any history lesson related to the Holocaust, and since it does not contain extremely disturbing details, I would consider this book appropriate for students in the 6th grade and higher.

[Simone Mendoza · Rating 3 out of 5]

In all honesty I am not sure about how I feel about this novel. I would definitely recommend this novel to others interested in the Holocaust and history, but it lacks a lot of emotion. You can visualize the settings and the scenes; however, you can’t feel the pain of being sent to concentration camps or the happiness of escaping. This novel does shed some light on the sufferings of ethnicities other than Jews. It taught me about what happened to gypsies and how they also were treated like animals. My favorite quotation is “This is no celebration. I am a human sack of potatoes” (Lasky 250). I couldn’t quite understand the comparison, but I found it very funny how during this scene, Lilo was being held by three men who encountered a Nazi and they pretended to be on the same side. I would’ve been extremely scared if I were Lilo, thinking that they had betrayed me; however, she simply compares herself to potatoes and it was very humorous. I like the realism of the novel when the author stated facts about what went on during the novel, but I feel as though Lasky was too lenient when describing the harsh conditions for the gypsies. While they most likely suffered worse, Lasky doesn’t illustrate it well in my opinion. Overall, I believe that this book is good to read once, but I wouldn’t read it again and I would say that it won’t satisfy you like a good book does.

[Josie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first book about the Holocaust that hasn't made me cry. I felt nothing for any of the characters, they were so flat. I didn't even feel anything when Lilo is finally captured and taken to Ravensbruck where she is forcibly given a hysterectomy, and that should have been one of the most horrific and devastating parts of the book, along with losing her mother. And while I can understand Lilo ~falling in love~ with the only available teenage boy around at the time, I couldn't get behind her obsessing over him for years, and being determined to find him again because they were ~soulmates~.

The only reason I'm giving this book 2 stars instead of 1 is because it feels like a glorious two finger salute aimed squarely at Leni Riefenstahl. The story is, of course, based on true events, and in the author's note Lasky mentions a documentary from the 1980s called Time of Darkness and Silence, filmed by Nina Gladitz, about Romani film slaves during the Nazi regime:

Leni Riefenstahl sued Gladitz and managed to have the film taken off the market and made completely unavailable. At the time of writing this book, the film was in a vault controlled by the Riefenstahl estate.

[Lisa Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Goodreads: "Is the chance to serve as an extra for Hitler’s favorite filmmaker a chance at life — or a detour on the path to inevitable extermination?

"One ordinary afternoon, fifeen-year-old Lilo and her family are suddenly picked up by Hitler’s police and imprisoned as part of the "Gypsy plague." Just when it seems certain that they will be headed to a labor camp, Lilo is chosen by filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl to work as a film extra. Life on the film set is a bizarre alternate reality. The surroundings are glamorous, but Lilo and the other extras are barely fed, closely guarded, and kept in a locked barn when not on the movie set. And the beautiful, charming Riefenstahl is always present, answering the slightest provocation with malice, flaunting the power to assign prisoners to life or death. Lilo takes matters into her own hands, effecting an escape and running for her life. In this chilling but ultimately uplifting novel, Kathryn Lasky imagines the lives of the Gypsies who worked as extras for the real Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, giving readers a story of survival unlike any other."

The characters are Roma, another group targetted by the Nazi's. Heartwarming characters in a heartbreaking situation. Compelling.

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was umming and arring between 2 and 3 stars the whole way through this book. It was a good idea and it told a part of history that I had never come across before. However, it all kinda seemed a bit too docile...every bad thing glazed over. And isn't the whole thing about Nazi war camps the fact that they were horrible places?

To be honest from the moment I started this book...I knew it wasn't what I fancied. Although the adding in of German added an interesting element...in this situation I found it just didn't work. There were so many words that I could even attempt to sounds out that I ended up just glazing over what would add up to be quite a sizeable chunk of the book. Furthermore...I couldn't remember anyone's names! Which kind of made it really confusing. I also found that I had no attachment to the characters. This book didn't really make me feel anything.

So all in all, good, less told, basic idea (hence the two stars). But lacking in emotional attachment and that wow factor that comes when you find a brilliant author.

[Erikka · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book bc it is such an unusual angle on the Holocaust. There aren’t a lot of Roma/Sinti perspective books. Also, the story of Leni Riefenstahl is also rarely seen in young adult books. Unfortunately, I feel like the plot was a bit of a mess, particularly in the last half. It feels like the first part was setting up for a certain pace and then there was a page limit and the rest of Lilo’s experience (several years worth) was sped through to fit constraints. It was a little bizarre and made events in the end of the book (the last 25% really) feel like a flip book. I also feel like it didn’t quite capture the horrors of the Holocaust. I can understand not going into full detail in a book for kids, but you can’t sugarcoat it quite this much because they won’t know how to feel when they DO learn the whole truth. That being said, I loved the characters of Lilo and her mother and felt the exploitation of the “gypsies” by Riefenstahl was beautifully portrayed. It’s not a bad book for young people, but there are better options.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book got me interested in Leni Riefenstahl's story. It's intriguing to think about what happened to people who supported Hitler's regime. You don't hear much about them. She seemed to have gotten let off the hook--she was an actress after all. Bizarre.

Why 4 stars? I enjoyed the story, but the writing style was very teen fiction-esque which made it difficult to take seriously. It's written from the perspective of a teenage girl though so I guess it's fitting.

The ending wasn't to my liking either. Since this is historical fiction, I thought the author could've provided more closure, but maybe that was her way of showing how many victims of the holocaust didn't have closure? Anyway I felt let down when the ending came so suddenly without exploring the fate of all the characters.

[Ali Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important novel as it tells the plight of Romani/Gypsy people during the Second World War and ensuing holocaust.

Lilo is a likeable character, who I rooted for all throughout the novel. Her journey felt a touch unrealistic (that she kept finding good fortune) until I read that it is rooted in a true story. It explores the range of humanity in such a dark period of history and it is heartening to see the good juxtaposed with the bad. The episode in Salzburg felt a little too good to be true but, again, such things genuinely happened.

All young people (and old of course) should be reading this in order to put history into a personal context.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really, really wanted to like this book more than I did. This is a new and different take on a holocaust story, and it is a story that needs to be told; but, unfortunately, it is not as well written as Lasky's best work. In particular, the pacing is very problematic. I have found that good pacing is something that is super important for kids, most of whom have very little patience when a story drags or tension is lost. Lose the rhythm of your story, and your reader may not wait for you to find the beat again. Still, I was glad I read it, and I do think there will be an audience for this book among the many young people who have a strong interest in holocaust stories.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good & told a little-known Holocaust story. Gypsies throughout Europe were interned & exterminated by the Nazis, but a small group were extras in a film shot by Leni Reifenstahl. It was a Spanish tale & she was unable to get Spanish actors, so she used an easily found source instead: Gypsy prisoners. They were film slaves, incarcerated at various filming locations under difficult circumstances. Most did not survive the war, but this historical fiction account is based on the true life stories of those who did survive. It's a heartbreaking tale that manages to give a glimmer of hope.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Considering the subject matter and premise, I surprised myself by storming through this novel. I was worried it would be overly descriptive and difficult to process, but I found it highly enjoyable and educational. I wasn't familiar with Leni Riefenstahl or some of the true events that the plot is based around; the author's note was very interesting indeed.
I'd recommend to readers over the age of 13 or whenever the reader was taught about the Holocaust in school. Subjects like genocide and sterilisation are mentioned but not too explicit.

[Gabby G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good holocaust book for juveniles (or anyone who doesn't know much about what happened). It doesn't hold back too much, but still doesn't keep me up at night (no pun intended).
It's a little weird in the beginning, the writing was quite poor (tell don't show, pacing zigged and zagged way too often, etc.) but around the halfway point it gets really good and keeps getting good until the end.
Would recommend.

[Goodbooklady Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lasky does an excellent job of highlighting a piece of history in the Holocaust that many are not aware of. In fact, she let me see in a very uncomfortable way exactly how cruel some of the people were in the Nazi Movement. But, she also showed some real kindness and hope in the story which is what I truly loved.

[Melissa Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difficult one to rate.
I enjoyed this book as a whole and it had some parts that totally pulled at the heart strings. I read it in a day or two so it kept me interested and had a good plot through out.
I still feel as though there was something missing but I don't know what and the book, especially the ending, seemed very rushed.