What do you think?
Rate this book
Up from the Ashes
#1 New York Times bestselling author Sharon Cameron returns with a stunning story about the fight to survive - and find love - in the face of the ugliest of nightmares, based on the true story of two heroes and their resistance in the Sobibor death camp during the Holocaust.
Selma Wijnberg is a criminal, a prisoner. Because she is Jewish. For this crime, in the depths of Hitler's occupation of Holland, Selma is deported to the Sobibor death camp, sentenced to sort the clothes of the dead while a smoke made of thousands blackens the sky. And in the light of this enormous funeral pyre, at the end of a Nazi pistol, Selma is ordered to dance. The hand that offers to dance with her is strong. Steady. It belongs to Chaim Engel. Chaim is a Polish Jew and also a prisoner. Chaim and Selma don't speak the same language. But sometimes, love doesn't need a language.
Who falls in love in the middle of hell? Chaim and Selma do. And who knew that love could kindle so much hope.
But when the prisoners of Sobibor hatch a daring plan of escape, it is time to kill or be killed. The gate or the fire. Chaim and Selma will go out on their feet, or out with the smoke. In an hour of terror and panic, of bullets and bloodshed, Chaim and Selma discover that hope--and two hands twined tightly together--can be the key to keeping two people alive.
Based on the remarkable true story of Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel, and the infamous revolt and escape of the Sobibor death camp prisoners, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Light in Hidden Places, Sharon Cameron crafts an extraordinary and evocative thriller that celebrates how hope and love can conquer even the most impossible of odds.
Selma Wijnberg is a criminal, a prisoner. Because she is Jewish. For this crime, in the depths of Hitler's occupation of Holland, Selma is deported to the Sobibor death camp, sentenced to sort the clothes of the dead while a smoke made of thousands blackens the sky. And in the light of this enormous funeral pyre, at the end of a Nazi pistol, Selma is ordered to dance. The hand that offers to dance with her is strong. Steady. It belongs to Chaim Engel. Chaim is a Polish Jew and also a prisoner. Chaim and Selma don't speak the same language. But sometimes, love doesn't need a language.
Who falls in love in the middle of hell? Chaim and Selma do. And who knew that love could kindle so much hope.
But when the prisoners of Sobibor hatch a daring plan of escape, it is time to kill or be killed. The gate or the fire. Chaim and Selma will go out on their feet, or out with the smoke. In an hour of terror and panic, of bullets and bloodshed, Chaim and Selma discover that hope--and two hands twined tightly together--can be the key to keeping two people alive.
Based on the remarkable true story of Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel, and the infamous revolt and escape of the Sobibor death camp prisoners, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Light in Hidden Places, Sharon Cameron crafts an extraordinary and evocative thriller that celebrates how hope and love can conquer even the most impossible of odds.
416 pages, Hardcover
Published October 6, 2026
About the author
Sharon Cameron
22 books2,229 followersSharon Cameron was awarded the 2009 Sue Alexander Most Promising New Work Award by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators for her debut novel, The Dark Unwinding. When not writing Sharon can be found thumbing dusty tomes, shooting her longbow, or indulging in her lifelong search for secret passages.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
October 12, 2026
Out on their feet, or out with the smoke.
The prisoners in the Sobibor work camp had few choices and millions died becoming nothing but smoke.
Sharon Cameron did extensive research to give us the true story of Selma Wignberg and Chaim Engel.
Why should you read this book?
📔That cover says so much about the story inside. Selma and Chaim escape Sobibor with the clothes on their backs and some valuables gleaned while sorting the belongings of the prisoners sent to the furnace. More about that later.
🫶 The clasped hands on the cover show the bond that grew between Selma, a Dutch Jew and Chaim, a Polish Jew. They did not have a shared language, but what they did have was an overwhelming sense of hope and the desire to keep others alive through the hell of the camp and the aftermath.
📒 How do I know the author did a boatload of research? She includes extensive notes (and photos) at the end of the book to show the facts she gathered and how they fit into a readable narrative. While she relied extensively on information from the Engel family, there were also many other witnesses who corroborated their story of a harrowing escape.
🍞 Our sermon in church this morning was focused on the Lord's Prayer. The rations given to the prisoners at Sobibor were an unpalatable gruel they referred to as spit soup and a piece of inedible "bread." Daily bread was hard to come by, but we see Selma and Chaim find ways to squirrel away cans of food from the clothing that is sorted after a new group is onboarded. They share their treasure with others to help sustain the others around them.
🗓 The prisoners broke out of Sobibor in October of 1943, but victory for the Allies was many months away yet. After days of evading German soldiers and their dogs, the Engels found a family who let them hide in the barn for many months. When they were able, Selma and Chaim started sending a monthly gift to that family for years afterward.
This is such an amazing story of the triumph of love and hope over hate. The scenes depicted in this book show Sobibor to be a hellhole of a dwelling. The storytelling is outstanding and I felt like I was there with them. If you are interested in more titles from Sharon Cameron I recommend The Light in Hidden Places and Bluebird.
Thank you to Scholastic Press and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. Available on October 6, 2026.
The prisoners in the Sobibor work camp had few choices and millions died becoming nothing but smoke.
Sharon Cameron did extensive research to give us the true story of Selma Wignberg and Chaim Engel.
Why should you read this book?
📔That cover says so much about the story inside. Selma and Chaim escape Sobibor with the clothes on their backs and some valuables gleaned while sorting the belongings of the prisoners sent to the furnace. More about that later.
🫶 The clasped hands on the cover show the bond that grew between Selma, a Dutch Jew and Chaim, a Polish Jew. They did not have a shared language, but what they did have was an overwhelming sense of hope and the desire to keep others alive through the hell of the camp and the aftermath.
📒 How do I know the author did a boatload of research? She includes extensive notes (and photos) at the end of the book to show the facts she gathered and how they fit into a readable narrative. While she relied extensively on information from the Engel family, there were also many other witnesses who corroborated their story of a harrowing escape.
🍞 Our sermon in church this morning was focused on the Lord's Prayer. The rations given to the prisoners at Sobibor were an unpalatable gruel they referred to as spit soup and a piece of inedible "bread." Daily bread was hard to come by, but we see Selma and Chaim find ways to squirrel away cans of food from the clothing that is sorted after a new group is onboarded. They share their treasure with others to help sustain the others around them.
🗓 The prisoners broke out of Sobibor in October of 1943, but victory for the Allies was many months away yet. After days of evading German soldiers and their dogs, the Engels found a family who let them hide in the barn for many months. When they were able, Selma and Chaim started sending a monthly gift to that family for years afterward.
This is such an amazing story of the triumph of love and hope over hate. The scenes depicted in this book show Sobibor to be a hellhole of a dwelling. The storytelling is outstanding and I felt like I was there with them. If you are interested in more titles from Sharon Cameron I recommend The Light in Hidden Places and Bluebird.
Thank you to Scholastic Press and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review. Available on October 6, 2026.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Up from the Ashes by Sharon Cameron was a heartbreaking and unforgettable novel. It felt even more powerful because it was based on the true story of Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel, two young Jewish prisoners who met and fell in love at the Sobibor death camp during the Holocaust.
Selma, a young Dutch Jewish woman, had been deported to Sobibor. She was assigned and then forced to sort through the belongings of those who had been murdered by the Nazis in the crematorium. There she met Chaim, a Polish Jewish prisoner. One of the moments in Up From the Ashes that stayed with me was Selma’s and Chaim’s first encounter in Sobibor when Selma was ordered at gunpoint to dance and Chaim stepped forward to dance with her. Despite not speaking the same language, they formed a bond that gradually grew stronger and slowly developed into love, courage, and hope in a place designed to destroy all three.
Their story eventually became intertwined with the courageous and remarkable Sobibor prisoner uprising and mass escape in October 1943. Knowing that Selma and Chaim were real people who experienced all of those horrors, were successful in escaping, survived, and built a life together which included marriage, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and a home in America made their story incredibly moving for me.
I also appreciated how Up From The Ashes brought attention to Sobibor and to the individual lives behind the overwhelming statistics of the Holocaust. Sharon Cameron portrayed unimaginable cruelty without allowing it to overshadow the courage, resistance, humanity, and love of the people imprisoned there.
Up From the Ashes was a difficult book to read at times, but also an important one. Selma and Chaim’s story was a powerful reminder of why these individual stories must continue to be shared, told and remembered. Up from the Ashes will stay with me for a long time. Be sure to read Sharon Cameron’s Author’s Note where she included photographs of Selma and Chaim and some of their family and additional facts about their lives. She also included a section that told about the people of Sorbibor that were included in the book including where they were born, when they arrived at Sorbibor and what happened to them after the mass escape in 1943.
Thank you to Scholastic Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this powerful and important book.
Selma, a young Dutch Jewish woman, had been deported to Sobibor. She was assigned and then forced to sort through the belongings of those who had been murdered by the Nazis in the crematorium. There she met Chaim, a Polish Jewish prisoner. One of the moments in Up From the Ashes that stayed with me was Selma’s and Chaim’s first encounter in Sobibor when Selma was ordered at gunpoint to dance and Chaim stepped forward to dance with her. Despite not speaking the same language, they formed a bond that gradually grew stronger and slowly developed into love, courage, and hope in a place designed to destroy all three.
Their story eventually became intertwined with the courageous and remarkable Sobibor prisoner uprising and mass escape in October 1943. Knowing that Selma and Chaim were real people who experienced all of those horrors, were successful in escaping, survived, and built a life together which included marriage, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and a home in America made their story incredibly moving for me.
I also appreciated how Up From The Ashes brought attention to Sobibor and to the individual lives behind the overwhelming statistics of the Holocaust. Sharon Cameron portrayed unimaginable cruelty without allowing it to overshadow the courage, resistance, humanity, and love of the people imprisoned there.
Up From the Ashes was a difficult book to read at times, but also an important one. Selma and Chaim’s story was a powerful reminder of why these individual stories must continue to be shared, told and remembered. Up from the Ashes will stay with me for a long time. Be sure to read Sharon Cameron’s Author’s Note where she included photographs of Selma and Chaim and some of their family and additional facts about their lives. She also included a section that told about the people of Sorbibor that were included in the book including where they were born, when they arrived at Sorbibor and what happened to them after the mass escape in 1943.
Thank you to Scholastic Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this powerful and important book.
August 9, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic/Scholastic Press for providing me with an advance eBook copy in exchange for an honest review.
Up from the Ashes by Sharon Cameron is set during World War II in Poland at the Sobibor death camp. We follow Selma Wijnberg as she is arrested for being Jewish and brought to the camp. Upon her arrival, she is ordered to dance with a pistol pointed at her. The boy who steps forward to dance with her is Chaim Engel. They speak different languages, but somehow, love becomes their language.
From there begins a heartbreaking and incredibly moving story of love, hope, resilience, and survival.
The prisoners of Sobibor begin to form a daring plan of escape. Will they make it to freedom hand in hand, or will they be killed and disappear into the smoke?
Knowing that this story is based on the true story of Chaim and Selma Engel made it hit even harder. I found myself in awe of everything they endured and the strength it took to keep going when they had every reason to lose hope. Their love gave them something to hold onto in a place designed to strip people of their humanity.
There are honestly no words that feel big enough to do this book justice. I cried for Selma and Chaim. I cried for the survivors. And I cried for all of the people who never made it out.
This was a devastating, heartbreaking, and beautiful story, and one that will stay with me for a long time. It reminded me that even in the darkest moments, hope can survive, and sometimes, love can be the thing that keeps us fighting.
Up from the Ashes by Sharon Cameron is set during World War II in Poland at the Sobibor death camp. We follow Selma Wijnberg as she is arrested for being Jewish and brought to the camp. Upon her arrival, she is ordered to dance with a pistol pointed at her. The boy who steps forward to dance with her is Chaim Engel. They speak different languages, but somehow, love becomes their language.
From there begins a heartbreaking and incredibly moving story of love, hope, resilience, and survival.
The prisoners of Sobibor begin to form a daring plan of escape. Will they make it to freedom hand in hand, or will they be killed and disappear into the smoke?
Knowing that this story is based on the true story of Chaim and Selma Engel made it hit even harder. I found myself in awe of everything they endured and the strength it took to keep going when they had every reason to lose hope. Their love gave them something to hold onto in a place designed to strip people of their humanity.
There are honestly no words that feel big enough to do this book justice. I cried for Selma and Chaim. I cried for the survivors. And I cried for all of the people who never made it out.
This was a devastating, heartbreaking, and beautiful story, and one that will stay with me for a long time. It reminded me that even in the darkest moments, hope can survive, and sometimes, love can be the thing that keeps us fighting.
Want to Read
August 1, 2026NEW SHARON CAMERON BOOK YES YES YESSSSS YES YES YES YES YESYEYSEYSYESEYES now I FINALLY have a book release to look forward to!!
October 12, 2026
I read this via Whispersync and the narration was great.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book is based on the true story of two heroes and their resistance in the Sobibor death camp during the Holocaust. Selma has already survived two concentration camps when she is sent to Sobibor, a death camp that is infamous for forcing inmates to perform sick entertainment for Nazi guards if they wish to live. Together Selma and her Polish partner dance well enough to live through the night. From that moment on, Chaim and Selma will do whatever it takes to keep each other alive.
I have read a lot of Holocaust stories and had not ever heard of the Sobibor Death Camp. This well-crafted story, is a story of survival, hope, triumph and power of love in the face of impossible odds.
“Triumph over hate, over trauma, over unimaginable adversity and the weight that adversity then forces a person to carry through life. It was a triumph only possible because of hope. And always, the catalyst for hope is love.
I have read a lot of Holocaust stories and had not ever heard of the Sobibor Death Camp. This well-crafted story, is a story of survival, hope, triumph and power of love in the face of impossible odds.
“Triumph over hate, over trauma, over unimaginable adversity and the weight that adversity then forces a person to carry through life. It was a triumph only possible because of hope. And always, the catalyst for hope is love.
October 12, 2026
Told in two merging timelines, UP FROM THE ASHES, by Sharon Cameron, is a standalone, historical fiction story based on the real lives of Selma and Chaim Engle.
Selma is a Dutch Jew.
Chaim is a Polish Jew.
They meet in Sobibor, an holocaust labor camp; a literal hell on earth. After spending 3 days packed into a train car, Selma’s introduction to the camp was to be ordered to dance with Chaim. They don’t speak the same language but begin to communicate while being forced to keep dancing together for hours. A group of Nazi guards sit close by eating, drinking, demanding while watching them; entertainment.
Chapters alternate between “days until Sobibor” and “days left in Sobibor”. These posted countdowns serve to add tension while reading. How could they possibly endure that many more days? Time becomes excruciating.
To be blunt, this is not an easy read. Cameron did extensive research and was able to speak with Engle family members. There are many extensive notes after the story ends. She includes a brief synopsis for most characters, (real people), that is very helpful to understand the cast and how they fit into the big picture. My suggestion is to read it before starting the book and to refer to it as needed while reading.
Life in Sobibor is horrifying. Starvation, labor, illness, filth, cold, wet, whips, bullets and the constant smell of burning “meat” in Camp III. Sensitive readers will have trouble with this story.
Cameron is able to inject a feeling of hope, caring, love. Selma and Chaim are watching out for each other and a small group of friends. They learn each other’s language enough to understand what’s important and share news about the war, camp, people. Because they work in the group sorting clothing and belongings of those who are funneled to
Camp III, it’s possible to secure scant extra food or valuables sewn into clothing seams or pockets; life saving jobs.
Reading difficult stories can be enlightening. To remember history should inspire us to learn from past mistakes, do better, be better. Current events around the world don’t support that much improvement has occurred.
We need to do better…be better.
Start by reading UP FROM THE ASHES. Consider the value of human life, tolerance and freedom to choose📚
I received a copy for review purposes. All opinions are honest and mine alone.
Read & Reviewed from a NetGalley eARC via Kindle with thanks to the publisher and author.
Selma is a Dutch Jew.
Chaim is a Polish Jew.
They meet in Sobibor, an holocaust labor camp; a literal hell on earth. After spending 3 days packed into a train car, Selma’s introduction to the camp was to be ordered to dance with Chaim. They don’t speak the same language but begin to communicate while being forced to keep dancing together for hours. A group of Nazi guards sit close by eating, drinking, demanding while watching them; entertainment.
Chapters alternate between “days until Sobibor” and “days left in Sobibor”. These posted countdowns serve to add tension while reading. How could they possibly endure that many more days? Time becomes excruciating.
To be blunt, this is not an easy read. Cameron did extensive research and was able to speak with Engle family members. There are many extensive notes after the story ends. She includes a brief synopsis for most characters, (real people), that is very helpful to understand the cast and how they fit into the big picture. My suggestion is to read it before starting the book and to refer to it as needed while reading.
Life in Sobibor is horrifying. Starvation, labor, illness, filth, cold, wet, whips, bullets and the constant smell of burning “meat” in Camp III. Sensitive readers will have trouble with this story.
Cameron is able to inject a feeling of hope, caring, love. Selma and Chaim are watching out for each other and a small group of friends. They learn each other’s language enough to understand what’s important and share news about the war, camp, people. Because they work in the group sorting clothing and belongings of those who are funneled to
Camp III, it’s possible to secure scant extra food or valuables sewn into clothing seams or pockets; life saving jobs.
Reading difficult stories can be enlightening. To remember history should inspire us to learn from past mistakes, do better, be better. Current events around the world don’t support that much improvement has occurred.
We need to do better…be better.
Start by reading UP FROM THE ASHES. Consider the value of human life, tolerance and freedom to choose📚
I received a copy for review purposes. All opinions are honest and mine alone.
Read & Reviewed from a NetGalley eARC via Kindle with thanks to the publisher and author.
July 18, 2026
The Sobibor killing camp in German-occupied Poland during WWII is the primary setting for Sharon Cameron’s Up From the Ashes, a hard to read survival story with a 60 year love story as its heart.
Sharon Cameron uses the real life love story of Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel to tell the truth of Sobibor’s abuse and killing of nearly 200,000 Jews. Trains packed with Jews, primarily from Poland and the Netherlands, were unloaded, given a speech about how they will be fed and housed if they work and then only a few selected to work and the rest stripped of all clothing and belongings, hair cut short, and then forced to dance and sing on their way to their deaths. The few chosen workers would be assigned to forestry groups to cut the wood necessary for burning the bodies of their fellows, sent to sorting rooms to separate the belongings into piles intended to go to worthy Germans, the incinerator or used to keep workers minimally clothed. Cameron details the abuses, random killings and starvation in depth as she relays the way Chaim saved her during selection by asking her to death and continues to save her by teaching her the ways to pilfer food from the clothes they sorted, how to avoid the attention of the guards, and above all, to keep focusing on him, his eyes, his presence when the hellishness got too close. All this with Chaim speaking Yiddish and Polish and Selma only Dutch. Interspersed between chapters set in Sobibor and labeled with the date and days left there and those set in places on Selma’s route to the camp and labeled with the date and days until Sobibor, Cameron provides details of Selma’s childhood, young adulthood, and the betrayal of fellow Hollanders that lead to her journey through various prisons until arriving in Sobibor. The conclusion of the narrative focuses on the collapse of the Nazi hierarchy and subsequent revolt and escape of roughly 300 of Sobibor’s prisoners, Selma and Chaim’s hiding until the war’s end, and their eventual immigration to the United States. Extensive back matter clarifies Cameron’s research methodology, the licenses taken, what is known about key players after the war ends, and several photographs of those players and the camp itself.
While Selma and Chaim’s love for one another gives them the hope they need to endure and survive, this is not a book that contains much hope. It is, overall, brutal, and does not leave any doubt of the Nazis’ deliberate attempt to annihilate an entire race. With the intensive interviews and research using materials from their family, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and more, this book leans strongly to the non-fiction side rather than merely historical fiction but as there were times the blanks had to be filled with supposition or with one person’s remembrance of an event over another’s, it is classified as historical fiction. Readers are certain to come away with new knowledge and a deeper appreciation for what many suffered before, during and well after the war.
Thought-provoking, informative and highly recommended for grades 7 through adult with content warnings for death and physical and mental abuse.
Thanks for the print arc, Scholastic.
Sharon Cameron uses the real life love story of Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel to tell the truth of Sobibor’s abuse and killing of nearly 200,000 Jews. Trains packed with Jews, primarily from Poland and the Netherlands, were unloaded, given a speech about how they will be fed and housed if they work and then only a few selected to work and the rest stripped of all clothing and belongings, hair cut short, and then forced to dance and sing on their way to their deaths. The few chosen workers would be assigned to forestry groups to cut the wood necessary for burning the bodies of their fellows, sent to sorting rooms to separate the belongings into piles intended to go to worthy Germans, the incinerator or used to keep workers minimally clothed. Cameron details the abuses, random killings and starvation in depth as she relays the way Chaim saved her during selection by asking her to death and continues to save her by teaching her the ways to pilfer food from the clothes they sorted, how to avoid the attention of the guards, and above all, to keep focusing on him, his eyes, his presence when the hellishness got too close. All this with Chaim speaking Yiddish and Polish and Selma only Dutch. Interspersed between chapters set in Sobibor and labeled with the date and days left there and those set in places on Selma’s route to the camp and labeled with the date and days until Sobibor, Cameron provides details of Selma’s childhood, young adulthood, and the betrayal of fellow Hollanders that lead to her journey through various prisons until arriving in Sobibor. The conclusion of the narrative focuses on the collapse of the Nazi hierarchy and subsequent revolt and escape of roughly 300 of Sobibor’s prisoners, Selma and Chaim’s hiding until the war’s end, and their eventual immigration to the United States. Extensive back matter clarifies Cameron’s research methodology, the licenses taken, what is known about key players after the war ends, and several photographs of those players and the camp itself.
While Selma and Chaim’s love for one another gives them the hope they need to endure and survive, this is not a book that contains much hope. It is, overall, brutal, and does not leave any doubt of the Nazis’ deliberate attempt to annihilate an entire race. With the intensive interviews and research using materials from their family, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and more, this book leans strongly to the non-fiction side rather than merely historical fiction but as there were times the blanks had to be filled with supposition or with one person’s remembrance of an event over another’s, it is classified as historical fiction. Readers are certain to come away with new knowledge and a deeper appreciation for what many suffered before, during and well after the war.
Thought-provoking, informative and highly recommended for grades 7 through adult with content warnings for death and physical and mental abuse.
Thanks for the print arc, Scholastic.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was a heartbreaking, beautiful, devastating book. Selma and Chaim felt very real and I was rooting for them so deeply. I couldn't believe I had never heard this story before, and I had to go find a copy of Escape From Sobibor: The Heroic Story of the Jews Who Escaped from a Nazi Death Camp as soon as I finished. I highly recommend that pairing (though it is an even more devastating read than this one) if you have any interest in getting to know the other characters in this story more - most of them are real people and many have their own complicated story told in that book.
There were a few details of Selma and Chaim's story that were different between the two books, but both authors acknowledged having to make sense of conflicting accounts, and Sharon Cameron credits the Engel children as additional sources, so I assume those differences are largely due to the challenges of writing this kind of book. The biggest difference I noticed was that Escape from Sobibor is pretty clear that and if that really was a change to the actual timeline, it felt like a somewhat cheap way to heighten drama, because it really wasn't necessary.
Most of the book did an excellent job weaving real experiences into a tight narrative pace that sucked you into the daily lives and stakes of the prisoners. It's shocking that these kinds of things could ever happen, and so valuable not only to know that they did, but to really see the victims as real people - and this book excels at that.
The ending of the story was a little weaker in that regard, racing through so many things that could have each been a story unto themselves. I really wish we could have had more insight into their time in hiding and getting back on their feet! And then on top of that, the narrative starts to jump around chronologically, and we get extra whip lash from the order some things are revealed. I think it would have been better to keep things in chronological order - it doesn't have a perfect story arc, but neither does the way the book is actually structured, and the chronologically last chapter is a happier ending place (and more of their actual ending place!) than the actual last chapter.
But on the whole this was an excellent book, and now I need to read her whole catalog.
There were a few details of Selma and Chaim's story that were different between the two books, but both authors acknowledged having to make sense of conflicting accounts, and Sharon Cameron credits the Engel children as additional sources, so I assume those differences are largely due to the challenges of writing this kind of book. The biggest difference I noticed was that Escape from Sobibor is pretty clear that and if that really was a change to the actual timeline, it felt like a somewhat cheap way to heighten drama, because it really wasn't necessary.
Most of the book did an excellent job weaving real experiences into a tight narrative pace that sucked you into the daily lives and stakes of the prisoners. It's shocking that these kinds of things could ever happen, and so valuable not only to know that they did, but to really see the victims as real people - and this book excels at that.
The ending of the story was a little weaker in that regard, racing through so many things that could have each been a story unto themselves. I really wish we could have had more insight into their time in hiding and getting back on their feet! And then on top of that, the narrative starts to jump around chronologically, and we get extra whip lash from the order some things are revealed. I think it would have been better to keep things in chronological order - it doesn't have a perfect story arc, but neither does the way the book is actually structured, and the chronologically last chapter is a happier ending place (and more of their actual ending place!) than the actual last chapter.
But on the whole this was an excellent book, and now I need to read her whole catalog.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
As a huge fan of Sharon Cameron's other 3 WWII novels, I was very grateful to receive the ARC of Up from the Ashes, and I was not disappointed. Similar to The Light in Hidden Places, Up from the Ashes tells a real-life love story that blossoms in the very worst of circumstances. Despite not even initially speaking the same language, Chaim and Selma meet and fall in love in Sobibor, a concentration camp. Chaim does whatever he can to protect Selma, and their moments spent together offer an escape from the horror of their surroundings and fragile hope. I appreciated the nuances of Selma's character, that she makes the best choice she can in the moment, that she has a weakness for pretty things, that at times her emotions and hotheaded nature overcome logic. She's not a paragon, but she's always sympathetic and always feels real. Chaim's love and care for Selma is so heart-warming, and his soft-heartedness makes that fact that he faces such terrible circumstances all the worse.
Cameron's prose always draws me in immediately, and the sadistic guards' disregard for life and capricious killing of prisoners meant that the story is fraught with nearly unbearable tension. Having read many books about the Holocaust before, taken a History seminar on the subject, and even having visited Dachau, I was still blindsided by the awfulness the victims of Sobibor experienced, and the depths of cruelty that just defy comprehension. Sadly, those who survived Sobibor continued to face much hardship and discrimination.
I'm appreciative of the way Cameron closes the book with an extensive author's note, which includes photographs, the fates of all the major figures described in the book, and how she wove the real-life accounts of those imprisoned at Sobibor into a novel. In her closing, Cameron echoed something I dwelt on throughout the book, that every single person whose death is mentioned in passing had a full life and history just the same as Chaim and Selma. While there are so many stories we will never know, continuing to tell the stories of Chaim, Selma, Ula, Mimi, Esther, Leon, and all the others will help ensure that while Sobibor is no more, the world will never forget what transpired there.
Cameron's prose always draws me in immediately, and the sadistic guards' disregard for life and capricious killing of prisoners meant that the story is fraught with nearly unbearable tension. Having read many books about the Holocaust before, taken a History seminar on the subject, and even having visited Dachau, I was still blindsided by the awfulness the victims of Sobibor experienced, and the depths of cruelty that just defy comprehension. Sadly, those who survived Sobibor continued to face much hardship and discrimination.
I'm appreciative of the way Cameron closes the book with an extensive author's note, which includes photographs, the fates of all the major figures described in the book, and how she wove the real-life accounts of those imprisoned at Sobibor into a novel. In her closing, Cameron echoed something I dwelt on throughout the book, that every single person whose death is mentioned in passing had a full life and history just the same as Chaim and Selma. While there are so many stories we will never know, continuing to tell the stories of Chaim, Selma, Ula, Mimi, Esther, Leon, and all the others will help ensure that while Sobibor is no more, the world will never forget what transpired there.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A gripping and horrific story of survival during WWII designated YA but still a fine read for adults.
Selma Wijnberg is Jewish and she is being deported to the infamous Sobibor concentration camp where she meets Chaim Engel - this is a true story and forms the basis for telling the story of the cruelty of the Nazis and the Sobibor concentration camp where nearly 20,000 Polish and Dutch Jews died.
The book starts with Selma and Chaim, neither of whom speak the other’s language, being forced to dance by a Nazi guard. The chapters alternate between number of days until Selma is deported to and number of days left until Selma leaves Sobibor along with a corresponding date. This way we learn about Selma’s life before and during imprisonment. The chapters that go in minutes right before the escape are excruciating but when the next chapter segues to a day before arriving in Sobibor I thought I’d pull my hair out it was that suspenseful.
The atrocities depicted are real “based on eyewitness accounts of Chaim and Selma or other survivors” as are the people in the book, some with their actual names and some as hybrids of imprisoned people. The Sobibor uprising in October 14, 1943, happened - at that time there were about 600 people there and approximately 300 May gave escaped with about 47 to 60 actually surviving the Nazi sweep of the forest until the final liberation. The Author’s Note st the end is an amazing compile of pictures and mini bios of the real people who are part of this Sobibor story. Don’t miss reading it.
As I have stated in many of my historical fiction reviews, this genre is so important. It brings to life events and people that are often unknown or forgotten and in doing this history is preserved and not erased. This is one of the reasons I gave this book five stars. Preserving truthfulness in history in these days of DEI is incredibly important. Also the enduring love story that started out in such a heinous place deserves a star in and of itself. And while I’m not crazy about YA writing per se, I applaud the author for choosing this group to write the story to - we must keep history alive for future generations.
My thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for “granting my wish” and granting me access to this ARC.
Selma Wijnberg is Jewish and she is being deported to the infamous Sobibor concentration camp where she meets Chaim Engel - this is a true story and forms the basis for telling the story of the cruelty of the Nazis and the Sobibor concentration camp where nearly 20,000 Polish and Dutch Jews died.
The book starts with Selma and Chaim, neither of whom speak the other’s language, being forced to dance by a Nazi guard. The chapters alternate between number of days until Selma is deported to and number of days left until Selma leaves Sobibor along with a corresponding date. This way we learn about Selma’s life before and during imprisonment. The chapters that go in minutes right before the escape are excruciating but when the next chapter segues to a day before arriving in Sobibor I thought I’d pull my hair out it was that suspenseful.
The atrocities depicted are real “based on eyewitness accounts of Chaim and Selma or other survivors” as are the people in the book, some with their actual names and some as hybrids of imprisoned people. The Sobibor uprising in October 14, 1943, happened - at that time there were about 600 people there and approximately 300 May gave escaped with about 47 to 60 actually surviving the Nazi sweep of the forest until the final liberation. The Author’s Note st the end is an amazing compile of pictures and mini bios of the real people who are part of this Sobibor story. Don’t miss reading it.
As I have stated in many of my historical fiction reviews, this genre is so important. It brings to life events and people that are often unknown or forgotten and in doing this history is preserved and not erased. This is one of the reasons I gave this book five stars. Preserving truthfulness in history in these days of DEI is incredibly important. Also the enduring love story that started out in such a heinous place deserves a star in and of itself. And while I’m not crazy about YA writing per se, I applaud the author for choosing this group to write the story to - we must keep history alive for future generations.
My thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for “granting my wish” and granting me access to this ARC.
October 6, 2026
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Scholastic for granting this ARC wish!
I don't read much historical fiction these days, but when I was younger I ate it up, and something about the title and blurb for this book really spoke to that inner teenager...
Looking through her lens, I wish I could have read this as a student. And if I had the power, I would immediately make this required reading for all high school students. Because we spend SO much time on the world wars in both middle and high school, but it seems so surface level in hindsight; this book makes the Holocaust viscerally, heartbreakingly real, and that's the treatment Chaim and Selma's story deserves.
Throughout my reading experience, one thing stuck in my mind: I could easily fill a semester just with the ethics this story forces you to confront—the hindsight of choice, the dissociation of trauma, the power of friendship, the danger and lifeline of hope, the reality of living in a world full of deep-seated prejudices after "liberation," the injustices of the judicial systems around the world, the strength it must take to keep voicing the truth and making sure such awful things are not forgotten... These are the human experiences that deserve to be felt and pondered, and if we're not looking at such tragedy deeply, through lenses of humanity and empathy, then we are doing our students and the millions that died/lived through the Holocaust a grave disservice. You can teach numbers and politics all you want, but until students understand the emotional gravity of the history, there will always be a possibility that it is repeated.
All that to say...
The amount of research and care that went into crafting this story is both obvious and remarkable. It made for such tense, emotional, realistic, and heart-wrenching prose that does not spare the reader the truth, nor dramatize or sensationalize. The story is honest and gripping and a beautiful labor of love. And while I will be recommending this to everyone, in particular, I hope librarians get their hands on this asap and are able to shepherd it into the hands of young readers. This book deserves to be shared and discussed and cherished for the resource it is.
5 out of 5 ⭐️s
I don't read much historical fiction these days, but when I was younger I ate it up, and something about the title and blurb for this book really spoke to that inner teenager...
Looking through her lens, I wish I could have read this as a student. And if I had the power, I would immediately make this required reading for all high school students. Because we spend SO much time on the world wars in both middle and high school, but it seems so surface level in hindsight; this book makes the Holocaust viscerally, heartbreakingly real, and that's the treatment Chaim and Selma's story deserves.
Throughout my reading experience, one thing stuck in my mind: I could easily fill a semester just with the ethics this story forces you to confront—the hindsight of choice, the dissociation of trauma, the power of friendship, the danger and lifeline of hope, the reality of living in a world full of deep-seated prejudices after "liberation," the injustices of the judicial systems around the world, the strength it must take to keep voicing the truth and making sure such awful things are not forgotten... These are the human experiences that deserve to be felt and pondered, and if we're not looking at such tragedy deeply, through lenses of humanity and empathy, then we are doing our students and the millions that died/lived through the Holocaust a grave disservice. You can teach numbers and politics all you want, but until students understand the emotional gravity of the history, there will always be a possibility that it is repeated.
All that to say...
The amount of research and care that went into crafting this story is both obvious and remarkable. It made for such tense, emotional, realistic, and heart-wrenching prose that does not spare the reader the truth, nor dramatize or sensationalize. The story is honest and gripping and a beautiful labor of love. And while I will be recommending this to everyone, in particular, I hope librarians get their hands on this asap and are able to shepherd it into the hands of young readers. This book deserves to be shared and discussed and cherished for the resource it is.
5 out of 5 ⭐️s
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Scholastic Press and NetGalley for the advanced ecopy of this wonderful book. This review is voluntary and all my own opinions.
I don’t think I can find the right words to express how this book affected me. I have always loved reading books about the holocaust starting with Anne Frank’s story when I was in 8th grade. Most of the stories I have read have been about Auschwitz. I had briefly heard the story of this camp where prisoners had planned an escape all together, but this brought a whole new understanding for me. I know the treatment of Jews in the camps were devastating, but I was not prepared for everything that I read. The sheer amount of Jews who were murdered in one location is shocking, and the punishments they had for literally nothing are hard to fathom.
The story of Selma and Chaim was inspiring and heartbreaking all at once. The fact that they were able to find love and have hope in these circumstances is beyond belief. Even coming from two completely different cultures, they were able to connect in a way that lasted a lifetime. I loved hearing how they encouraged each other to keep going and to “come back” to each other no matter what. The way they took care of each other and fought together was another example of inspiration that came from this story.
Sobibor was a place that held so much hate and prejudice. It is a place that would have been forgotten or that people would have never believed existed if not for the bravery of those who survived and decided to tell their story. I pray that this story will continue to be told and that humanity will continue to learn from it. It is so necessary for our world.
This is the first book I have read by Sharon Cameron. I can honestly say that I will absolutely be reading more. She is an excellent writer who stays true to the story that actually happened to the best of her ability. I also appreciate the epilogue and the explanation of the people of Sobibor and what happened to them after, if they were among those who made it out. Thank you, Ms. Cameron, for writing this book. It has made a huge impact on me as well as so many others.
I don’t think I can find the right words to express how this book affected me. I have always loved reading books about the holocaust starting with Anne Frank’s story when I was in 8th grade. Most of the stories I have read have been about Auschwitz. I had briefly heard the story of this camp where prisoners had planned an escape all together, but this brought a whole new understanding for me. I know the treatment of Jews in the camps were devastating, but I was not prepared for everything that I read. The sheer amount of Jews who were murdered in one location is shocking, and the punishments they had for literally nothing are hard to fathom.
The story of Selma and Chaim was inspiring and heartbreaking all at once. The fact that they were able to find love and have hope in these circumstances is beyond belief. Even coming from two completely different cultures, they were able to connect in a way that lasted a lifetime. I loved hearing how they encouraged each other to keep going and to “come back” to each other no matter what. The way they took care of each other and fought together was another example of inspiration that came from this story.
Sobibor was a place that held so much hate and prejudice. It is a place that would have been forgotten or that people would have never believed existed if not for the bravery of those who survived and decided to tell their story. I pray that this story will continue to be told and that humanity will continue to learn from it. It is so necessary for our world.
This is the first book I have read by Sharon Cameron. I can honestly say that I will absolutely be reading more. She is an excellent writer who stays true to the story that actually happened to the best of her ability. I also appreciate the epilogue and the explanation of the people of Sobibor and what happened to them after, if they were among those who made it out. Thank you, Ms. Cameron, for writing this book. It has made a huge impact on me as well as so many others.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Sharon Cameron is one of my favorite historical authors, so I was delighted to receive an ARC of UP FROM THE ASHES. Cameron has become a master of uncovering remarkable--almost unbelievable--historical wartime events, then breathing life into them with her detailed, carefully researched fictional stories.
UP FROM THE ASHES is the vivid account of two actual people, Selma--a Dutch Jew, and Chaim--a Polish Jew, who find each other in a Polish death camp and draw close, in spite of the fact they don't speak the same language.
Cameron's description of life in a Nazi camp is horrifying, encompassing the sights, the smells, the hunger, the beatings; yet the Jews who scrape to survive there are described with Cameron's skillful hand as multidimensional characters who feel a range of emotions from joy to misery and despair to hope. The chapters effectively skip back and forth between life in Sobibor and life before capture, the contrast helping the reader get to know the people in the camp and their individual personalities.
Selma and Chaim draw close to each other as they struggle to keep themselves and their friends alive, and in spite of all the odds, their story has a satisfying ending. I had never heard of the Sobibor death camp before, but Cameron details the actual revolt and escape of prisoners there.
Even though this book is classified Young Adult, it can certainly be appreciated by adult readers. I recently reread THE HIDING PLACE, Corrie Ten Boom's memoir of her and her family's efforts to aid Jews in Holland, and this book is a good companion read for that one.
I hope to see Cameron on her book tour this coming fall for UP FROM THE ASHES and hear more about the real people she depicts and the research she did for this gripping story. See her if you have the chance--she's a riveting speaker!
UP FROM THE ASHES is the vivid account of two actual people, Selma--a Dutch Jew, and Chaim--a Polish Jew, who find each other in a Polish death camp and draw close, in spite of the fact they don't speak the same language.
Cameron's description of life in a Nazi camp is horrifying, encompassing the sights, the smells, the hunger, the beatings; yet the Jews who scrape to survive there are described with Cameron's skillful hand as multidimensional characters who feel a range of emotions from joy to misery and despair to hope. The chapters effectively skip back and forth between life in Sobibor and life before capture, the contrast helping the reader get to know the people in the camp and their individual personalities.
Selma and Chaim draw close to each other as they struggle to keep themselves and their friends alive, and in spite of all the odds, their story has a satisfying ending. I had never heard of the Sobibor death camp before, but Cameron details the actual revolt and escape of prisoners there.
Even though this book is classified Young Adult, it can certainly be appreciated by adult readers. I recently reread THE HIDING PLACE, Corrie Ten Boom's memoir of her and her family's efforts to aid Jews in Holland, and this book is a good companion read for that one.
I hope to see Cameron on her book tour this coming fall for UP FROM THE ASHES and hear more about the real people she depicts and the research she did for this gripping story. See her if you have the chance--she's a riveting speaker!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book is based upon the true story of Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel. Selma was from Holland and Chaim was from Poland. They meet and fall in love, in of all places. the death camp of Sobibor. The offenses that brought them there; they were both Jews.
I have read a lot of books about the holocaust. I have read witness accounts and historical accounts and not a one was an easy read. This book was written in such a manner that I could not put it down. Selma and Chaim were real people and they struggled through every day not knowing if they would live through that day. They leaned on each other from the moment they met. Neither one speaking the other's language.
I am 70 years old, so WWII and the holocaust, the genocide of millions of Jewish people was not that far ended when I was born. We were taught about it in school and I still remember watching a film in grade school of what was found in the camps. The bodies, the belongings, the horror burned into my young brain. I am so very glad that the author wrote this book. It was a story of hope and from what I have read, those who had hope survived, those who did not, did not. Not that all were given a chance to even hope. The time for this book is now. I never in my life thought that we would forget or that we would allow this to ever happen again, but I look around me and I am frightened by what I see.
I will buy this book and I will give it as a gift to many who need to read this. I will pray we never have to see such a thing again. God brought these two people together and they told their story to the world and now we can help bring it to others through this book, thanks to Sharon Cameron. It wasn't just a story of survival, but of an incredible love that so few people ever experience.
I would like to thank Scholastic books and Netgalley for the honor of this early read.
I have read a lot of books about the holocaust. I have read witness accounts and historical accounts and not a one was an easy read. This book was written in such a manner that I could not put it down. Selma and Chaim were real people and they struggled through every day not knowing if they would live through that day. They leaned on each other from the moment they met. Neither one speaking the other's language.
I am 70 years old, so WWII and the holocaust, the genocide of millions of Jewish people was not that far ended when I was born. We were taught about it in school and I still remember watching a film in grade school of what was found in the camps. The bodies, the belongings, the horror burned into my young brain. I am so very glad that the author wrote this book. It was a story of hope and from what I have read, those who had hope survived, those who did not, did not. Not that all were given a chance to even hope. The time for this book is now. I never in my life thought that we would forget or that we would allow this to ever happen again, but I look around me and I am frightened by what I see.
I will buy this book and I will give it as a gift to many who need to read this. I will pray we never have to see such a thing again. God brought these two people together and they told their story to the world and now we can help bring it to others through this book, thanks to Sharon Cameron. It wasn't just a story of survival, but of an incredible love that so few people ever experience.
I would like to thank Scholastic books and Netgalley for the honor of this early read.
Read
October 7, 2026Up from the Ashes
by Sharon Cameron
Rated: 5 star rating
Up from the Ashes by Sharon Cameron is just an incredible book. It is a historical fiction story based on the real lives of two Jewish prisoners, Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel. They get sent to the Sobibor death camp during World War II and somehow fall in love in the middle of a total nightmare.
The story actually jumps back in time a bit to 1940 to show Selma's life during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam before she gets separated from her family and sent to the camp in 1943.
Her job in the camp is sad because she has to sort through the clothes of people who didn't make it. The characters are what really hooked me.
Selma has a lot of attitude and courage, and Chaim is a steady guy who wants to protect her. They have a crazy first meeting where a Nazi guard forces Selma to dance at gunpoint, and Chaim steps up to dance with her. The wildest part is they don't even speak the same language at first, but they still fall for each other.
You can tell the author did a lot of research and even talked to the real family to get the details right, which makes the emotional stuff feel totally real.
The last part of the book gets so intense when the prisoners plan a huge escape. You will be on the edge of your seat, trying to see if they make it out through the gates. It is a pretty heavy and sad read, but it is inspiring because it shows how love can help you survive anything.
I totally recommend grabbing this book if you want a great historical book that will stay with you.
Thank you, NetGalley, Scholastic Press, and Sharon Cameron, author, for this ebook. review consideration. All review opinions are my own.
#NetGalley
#ScholasticPress
#Scholastic
#SharonCameron author
#UpfromtheAshes
http://goodreads.com/patriciasreading...
http://www.patriciasreadingroom.blogs...
by Sharon Cameron
Rated: 5 star rating
Up from the Ashes by Sharon Cameron is just an incredible book. It is a historical fiction story based on the real lives of two Jewish prisoners, Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel. They get sent to the Sobibor death camp during World War II and somehow fall in love in the middle of a total nightmare.
The story actually jumps back in time a bit to 1940 to show Selma's life during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam before she gets separated from her family and sent to the camp in 1943.
Her job in the camp is sad because she has to sort through the clothes of people who didn't make it. The characters are what really hooked me.
Selma has a lot of attitude and courage, and Chaim is a steady guy who wants to protect her. They have a crazy first meeting where a Nazi guard forces Selma to dance at gunpoint, and Chaim steps up to dance with her. The wildest part is they don't even speak the same language at first, but they still fall for each other.
You can tell the author did a lot of research and even talked to the real family to get the details right, which makes the emotional stuff feel totally real.
The last part of the book gets so intense when the prisoners plan a huge escape. You will be on the edge of your seat, trying to see if they make it out through the gates. It is a pretty heavy and sad read, but it is inspiring because it shows how love can help you survive anything.
I totally recommend grabbing this book if you want a great historical book that will stay with you.
Thank you, NetGalley, Scholastic Press, and Sharon Cameron, author, for this ebook. review consideration. All review opinions are my own.
#NetGalley
#ScholasticPress
#Scholastic
#SharonCameron author
#UpfromtheAshes
http://goodreads.com/patriciasreading...
http://www.patriciasreadingroom.blogs...
October 7, 2026
This book broke my heart, stomped on it, and then somehow convinced me that hope still exists.
Up from the Ashes is based on the true story of Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel, two Jewish prisoners who survived the Sobibor death camp and took part in the infamous uprising and escape.
The writing is gripping, heartbreaking, and incredibly difficult at times but in a way that feels necessary.
I had to put this book down a couple of times. The descriptions of what happened at Sobibor were simply too horrific to read all at once. There is something especially painful about reading historical fiction when you know the history behind it is real. You can’t comfort yourself with the thought that “surely this didn’t really happen.” It did.
One thing I thought Sharon Cameron did exceptionally well was the chapter structure. The countdown of days until Sobibor and then days remaining in Sobibor created a growing sense of dread that I could feel with every chapter. As the uprising approached, that structure made the tension almost unbearable. I knew what was coming, but somehow that made me even more anxious to get there.
And then there’s Selma and Chaim. Their relationship could have felt almost impossible given the circumstances, but instead it becomes one of the book’s most powerful reminders that people can still find love, connection, and hope in the darkest places.
That’s what made this book so powerful for me. It isn’t just a story about surviving. It’s about holding onto hope when there is very little reason to have any.
Five stars. Not because it was easy to read—it absolutely was not—but because it was powerful, beautifully told, and impossible to forget.
Up from the Ashes is based on the true story of Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel, two Jewish prisoners who survived the Sobibor death camp and took part in the infamous uprising and escape.
The writing is gripping, heartbreaking, and incredibly difficult at times but in a way that feels necessary.
I had to put this book down a couple of times. The descriptions of what happened at Sobibor were simply too horrific to read all at once. There is something especially painful about reading historical fiction when you know the history behind it is real. You can’t comfort yourself with the thought that “surely this didn’t really happen.” It did.
One thing I thought Sharon Cameron did exceptionally well was the chapter structure. The countdown of days until Sobibor and then days remaining in Sobibor created a growing sense of dread that I could feel with every chapter. As the uprising approached, that structure made the tension almost unbearable. I knew what was coming, but somehow that made me even more anxious to get there.
And then there’s Selma and Chaim. Their relationship could have felt almost impossible given the circumstances, but instead it becomes one of the book’s most powerful reminders that people can still find love, connection, and hope in the darkest places.
That’s what made this book so powerful for me. It isn’t just a story about surviving. It’s about holding onto hope when there is very little reason to have any.
Five stars. Not because it was easy to read—it absolutely was not—but because it was powerful, beautifully told, and impossible to forget.
October 11, 2026
Up From the Ashes by Sharon Cameron is a story full of tragedy and horror. The book is also filled with love and hope. It is hard to write a novel that balances good and bad so completely. Sharon Cameron’s book does just that. However, the events in the book are real, they were witnessed by Engels or other survivors. There are names and places in the book that are real. (There are some unknown or names hidden for a reason in a couple of places.)
The book is told in two time lines, both stories narrated by Selma. The storylines; one from Selma before Sobibor and one with Selma in Sobibor and after their escape. Up From the Ashes shares tragic events from the Sobibor Death Camp. But it also shares a growing love story between Chaim and Selma. It also includes the breakout and escape of prisoners in 1943.
Imagine being put into hell and being forced to dance when you do not understand the language and what you are being told to do. That was Selma’s introduction to Sabibor. Chaim stepped up and started to dance with her and so their fate was set.
At times, the death and destruction of human life was highlighted. Sobibor was a death camp. Chaim and Selma witnessed such horror and their story needs to be told again and again - so it does not happen again.
The story is listed as historical fiction, young adult, and Holocaust. Up From the Ashes by Sharon Cameron is a great read!
“Hope sustained them. Hope helped them strive. Hope handed them the strength to survive both in the camp and out of it. Hope sent them to the trials and to school, so the world could be better. And it was a hope that sprang from love.” Sharon Cameron (author’s note)
The book is told in two time lines, both stories narrated by Selma. The storylines; one from Selma before Sobibor and one with Selma in Sobibor and after their escape. Up From the Ashes shares tragic events from the Sobibor Death Camp. But it also shares a growing love story between Chaim and Selma. It also includes the breakout and escape of prisoners in 1943.
Imagine being put into hell and being forced to dance when you do not understand the language and what you are being told to do. That was Selma’s introduction to Sabibor. Chaim stepped up and started to dance with her and so their fate was set.
At times, the death and destruction of human life was highlighted. Sobibor was a death camp. Chaim and Selma witnessed such horror and their story needs to be told again and again - so it does not happen again.
The story is listed as historical fiction, young adult, and Holocaust. Up From the Ashes by Sharon Cameron is a great read!
“Hope sustained them. Hope helped them strive. Hope handed them the strength to survive both in the camp and out of it. Hope sent them to the trials and to school, so the world could be better. And it was a hope that sprang from love.” Sharon Cameron (author’s note)
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
My review cannot do this book justice. Words cannot express what this book did for me. I did nof realize how much it would affect me. Up From the Ashes is a dark story about a very dark time in the history of the world. The author took a story and has imprinted it into my heart and brain. Books like this should be must reads so we remember, never forget and never, never repeat.
The author has created a dual timeline, not spanniing decades, but mostly just a few years. The reader experiences the challenges of Selma, a young Jew, in Hilter's world. With every passing day living along side the Nazis becomes harder. She watches as her family hotel is taken from them. She sees friends and family flee. She struggles to find safety. She soon learns that safety is an illusion.
Follow along with Selma has she experiences jail and so much worse. Things might be looking up as she and so many other prisoners are taken to another camp, one to believed to be so much better. That is what the Nazis wanted them to believe as trains pull up to Sobibor. The lie could not be further from the truth.
Live alongside Selma and others as they try to survival brutality. Learn how it is possible, and maybe necessary, to find love in the darkness. Understand the decisions that were made to live just one more day. Rejoice at the bravery when they have had enough and know they have little to loose. Grab the tissues, you will need them. I lost track of how many times I sat in silence, my heart breaking for what was done. This book should be a must read for everyone.
The author has created a dual timeline, not spanniing decades, but mostly just a few years. The reader experiences the challenges of Selma, a young Jew, in Hilter's world. With every passing day living along side the Nazis becomes harder. She watches as her family hotel is taken from them. She sees friends and family flee. She struggles to find safety. She soon learns that safety is an illusion.
Follow along with Selma has she experiences jail and so much worse. Things might be looking up as she and so many other prisoners are taken to another camp, one to believed to be so much better. That is what the Nazis wanted them to believe as trains pull up to Sobibor. The lie could not be further from the truth.
Live alongside Selma and others as they try to survival brutality. Learn how it is possible, and maybe necessary, to find love in the darkness. Understand the decisions that were made to live just one more day. Rejoice at the bravery when they have had enough and know they have little to loose. Grab the tissues, you will need them. I lost track of how many times I sat in silence, my heart breaking for what was done. This book should be a must read for everyone.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Scholastic and Netgalley for the ARC.
This book is based on the true story of Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel as a way to describe the killing camp, Sobibor in Poland which killed over 200,000 Jews during WWII.
The book goes back and forth from the number of days before entering Sobibor, days until leaving Sobibor. Our story begins in Holland with Selma living with her family where they run a hotel before Holland is occupied by the Germans. Once the Nazi's take over, things happen quickly, her dad dies, and Selma goes into hiding. After some time, she is found and send to Sobibor, where she smells fire and burning flesh. She is saved immediately by Chaim when he asks her to dance to entertain the wardens, and he spends the rest of the time in Sobibor keeping her safe.
The story describes the horrific conditions of the camp--the abuse, starvation, disease, and death so the readers has a very clear picture of what it would have been like to be a prisoner there. When Selma and Chaim and 300 others revolt and escape, Selma and Chaim found a place to hide until the end of the war.
Even after the war, they still had trouble finding a place to live, and eventually ended up in the United States.
This was a difficult, but important read, and any HS or upper MS interested in the Holocaust will want to read this book. I will be purchasing a copy for my MS library.
This book is based on the true story of Selma Wijnberg and Chaim Engel as a way to describe the killing camp, Sobibor in Poland which killed over 200,000 Jews during WWII.
The book goes back and forth from the number of days before entering Sobibor, days until leaving Sobibor. Our story begins in Holland with Selma living with her family where they run a hotel before Holland is occupied by the Germans. Once the Nazi's take over, things happen quickly, her dad dies, and Selma goes into hiding. After some time, she is found and send to Sobibor, where she smells fire and burning flesh. She is saved immediately by Chaim when he asks her to dance to entertain the wardens, and he spends the rest of the time in Sobibor keeping her safe.
The story describes the horrific conditions of the camp--the abuse, starvation, disease, and death so the readers has a very clear picture of what it would have been like to be a prisoner there. When Selma and Chaim and 300 others revolt and escape, Selma and Chaim found a place to hide until the end of the war.
Even after the war, they still had trouble finding a place to live, and eventually ended up in the United States.
This was a difficult, but important read, and any HS or upper MS interested in the Holocaust will want to read this book. I will be purchasing a copy for my MS library.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This was a very difficult read and I can not even begin to imagine what it must have been like to have actually lived through the Holocaust. Sharon Cameron is an amazing story teller, she has a way of opening doors to worlds and stories that need to be heard. Up from the Ashes is a story that needs to be heard.
Told from two perspectives, Up from the Ashes is based on a true story about the Sobibor death camp during the Holocaust. Even though the main characters didn't speak the same language, they managed to fall in love and save each other many times over while in the camp. This is the story of their imprisonment, their escape, and their journey to freedom. I believe that is is truly inspiring that the main characters were able to find love and friendships, despite being surrounded by hatred and constantly fearing for their lives. I think that this story is did a good job of showing that just because everyone imprisoned during the Holocaust was freed at the end of the war, their pain and suffering did not end.
Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for an arc of this book. All opinions are my own.
Told from two perspectives, Up from the Ashes is based on a true story about the Sobibor death camp during the Holocaust. Even though the main characters didn't speak the same language, they managed to fall in love and save each other many times over while in the camp. This is the story of their imprisonment, their escape, and their journey to freedom. I believe that is is truly inspiring that the main characters were able to find love and friendships, despite being surrounded by hatred and constantly fearing for their lives. I think that this story is did a good job of showing that just because everyone imprisoned during the Holocaust was freed at the end of the war, their pain and suffering did not end.
Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for an arc of this book. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Up From The Ashes
By: Sharon Cameron
5 Stars
This was the story of a young girl just coming of age who is slung into a war that she did nothing to cause, but being born. Being born a jew. Will she survive with her soul in tact? Or will she go out with the smoke?
To say this is a book filled with emotion would be an understatement. It was real. It was raw. It was hope. It was pain. It was survival. This story is so gripping from the very first page. The fact this was based on a true story makes it all the more soul grabbing. I have read many books based on this subject. This one was different. It was well researched and as a reader, I loved all the history that comes after. It really helps to paint an even brighter picture on the images that come from this story. It was written so very well. It was done with both repsect and grace. It was descriptive and emotional. It was sad and hopeful at the same time. It will be a book that I will remember for a long time. Some memories never fade.
*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*
Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Reviews
By: Sharon Cameron
5 Stars
This was the story of a young girl just coming of age who is slung into a war that she did nothing to cause, but being born. Being born a jew. Will she survive with her soul in tact? Or will she go out with the smoke?
To say this is a book filled with emotion would be an understatement. It was real. It was raw. It was hope. It was pain. It was survival. This story is so gripping from the very first page. The fact this was based on a true story makes it all the more soul grabbing. I have read many books based on this subject. This one was different. It was well researched and as a reader, I loved all the history that comes after. It really helps to paint an even brighter picture on the images that come from this story. It was written so very well. It was done with both repsect and grace. It was descriptive and emotional. It was sad and hopeful at the same time. It will be a book that I will remember for a long time. Some memories never fade.
*I want to thank Netgalley and the author for this book in return for my honest review*
Stormi Ellis
Boundless Book Reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Scholastic and NetGalley for an arc of this book! I loved it so much. Sharon Cameron is such an amazing author, I love how she writes about real people and little known historical events. You can tell she does so much research to get everything as accurate as possible and it’s so impressive. This book is about the true story of Chaim and Selma who meet in the Sobibor Extermination Camp during WW2. It details the horrors of their time there but also the hope and love they had for each other. They worked in the sorting room, stealing things from pockets of the clothes they were sorting in order to survive. Then, they were involved in the uprising of that camp and had to continue their struggle to survive outside of the gates.
Thank you to Sharon Cameron for bringing this story to light! There are so many strong and amazing people depicted in this novel. She includes even more information on everyone in the afterword and it was so interesting. I highly recommend it! I’d also recommend her other novels- Artifice is my favorite so far!!
Thank you to Sharon Cameron for bringing this story to light! There are so many strong and amazing people depicted in this novel. She includes even more information on everyone in the afterword and it was so interesting. I highly recommend it! I’d also recommend her other novels- Artifice is my favorite so far!!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Up From the Ashes is the tale of Selma and Chaim’s real-life love story at Polish concentration camp, Sobibor.
The story moves back and forth from Selma’s days in Holland, prior to being shipped to Sobibor and her days in the camp where she meets Chaim. We learn a bit of Selma’s life as she flees her family’s home, goes into hiding with Gentiles, and then gets shipped from a bad camp to a hell camp. We learn what those early days in Sobibor were like for her, how she connected with Chaim, and how the two managed to find enough hope to stay alive for one another.
The story is incredible and, of course, totally devastating. At the same time, it reads easily. And unfortunately for me, I never felt particularly attached to the characters (are they characters when they’re real people?). It’s not a very long book, but I did find it slow. Clearly people love the author and many reviews are positive, but this was lackluster for me.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The story moves back and forth from Selma’s days in Holland, prior to being shipped to Sobibor and her days in the camp where she meets Chaim. We learn a bit of Selma’s life as she flees her family’s home, goes into hiding with Gentiles, and then gets shipped from a bad camp to a hell camp. We learn what those early days in Sobibor were like for her, how she connected with Chaim, and how the two managed to find enough hope to stay alive for one another.
The story is incredible and, of course, totally devastating. At the same time, it reads easily. And unfortunately for me, I never felt particularly attached to the characters (are they characters when they’re real people?). It’s not a very long book, but I did find it slow. Clearly people love the author and many reviews are positive, but this was lackluster for me.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
There are honestly no words big enough to do this book justice. This was a devastating, heartbreaking, and beautiful story of love, hope, resilience, and survival. Knowing that Selma and Chaim's story was based on real events made it even more powerful. I found myself in awe of their strength and of the love that helped them hold onto their humanity in a place designed to take it away.
I cried for Selma and Chaim, for the survivors, and for everyone who never made it out.
I had never heard of Sobibor before reading this book, and I appreciate how thoroughly the author shared its history and distinguished fact from fiction in the Author's Note. This is difficult history, but it is important history, and these stories deserve to be remembered.
Heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful, this is a moving story that will stay with me for a long time. I highly recommend for historical fiction readers and those interested in Holocaust literature, with content warnings for death and physical and mental abuse.
I cried for Selma and Chaim, for the survivors, and for everyone who never made it out.
I had never heard of Sobibor before reading this book, and I appreciate how thoroughly the author shared its history and distinguished fact from fiction in the Author's Note. This is difficult history, but it is important history, and these stories deserve to be remembered.
Heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful, this is a moving story that will stay with me for a long time. I highly recommend for historical fiction readers and those interested in Holocaust literature, with content warnings for death and physical and mental abuse.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is a very heavy and heartbreaking story. Selma is Dutch and Jewish. Her family is driven out of their home/the hotel they run and ultimately Selma is deported to the Sobibor death camp. Not a work camp, a death camp.
I think it is worth reading about the history of this camp before reading this book - this was the first time I had heard of Sobibor and it is an important point in history, and important to honor those who were killed.
This is based on a true story and I could feel the pain and fear come off of the story.
I liked how it alternated between the before the camp and the during - both timelines left me with a feeling of dread about what was to come. In the midst of the pain there is love, which is also incredible that in the darkest of days, love and kindness can be present.
I think it is worth reading about the history of this camp before reading this book - this was the first time I had heard of Sobibor and it is an important point in history, and important to honor those who were killed.
This is based on a true story and I could feel the pain and fear come off of the story.
I liked how it alternated between the before the camp and the during - both timelines left me with a feeling of dread about what was to come. In the midst of the pain there is love, which is also incredible that in the darkest of days, love and kindness can be present.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Saartje has arrived at the Sobibor death camp and is inexplicably paired with a Polish man. She is given an order in German that she doesn’t understand. Thankfully, the man does, and she learns she must waltz all night for the Germans. Time passes, and a revolt takes place with over 300 prisoners getting away. Now they are on the run and must find a safe place to hide until the war is over.
Up from the Ashes is a stand-alone historical fiction story that starts like many of the other Holocaust tales, but once you continue, you discover a new side to history. Although this is a fictional tale, the overarching story is real, and the descendants of these survivors have blessed us with their courage. Cameron has a gift for taking hard-hitting history and making it accessible for the everyday reader, and Up from the Ashes is another success story.
Up from the Ashes is a stand-alone historical fiction story that starts like many of the other Holocaust tales, but once you continue, you discover a new side to history. Although this is a fictional tale, the overarching story is real, and the descendants of these survivors have blessed us with their courage. Cameron has a gift for taking hard-hitting history and making it accessible for the everyday reader, and Up from the Ashes is another success story.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is another tense, heart wrenching novel of the Holocaust by Sharon Cameron. Since it's based on a true story, the reader knows Chaim and Selma are going to survive, but it's constant wonder as to how they are going to get through each terrible situation. The conditions and treatment at the Sobibor death camp in Poland were horrendous, and Cameron does not shy away from the brutality in this YA novel. Scenes of the time in the camp alternate with flashbacks to Selma's experiences leading up to the day she enters the camp. The author's note gives factual information about each real person she writes about, explains the research she did, and describes authorial decisions made when she did not have specific details or remembrances of different survivors were conflicting.
* I received an ebook edition of this book through NetGalley for an honest review.
* I received an ebook edition of this book through NetGalley for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for this eARC. While I knew the story of the Sobibor uprising, I didn't know about Chaim and Selma. This meant that while I had an idea of what was going to happen, I didn't know specifics, and it was a good, well paced read. The Author's Note at the end was very thorough, and I appreciate the tying up of lose ends and differentiation of fact and fiction. The horrors of the camp, the victims, and the difficulty of communicating were all facets of the story that I thought the author handled well. I would definitely suggest this to historical fiction readers, or readers who may be reluctant to read Holocaust literature, as the ending is more uplifting than most.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I could not put this book down. I had to know what would happen to Selma and Chaim next. Their love, and the hope it inspired in each other, was the heart and soul of this book. And while there could be no truly happy endings here, the last scene of the book was incredibly moving.
Of course, this was a horrifying read too. It's almost incomprehensible that humans can be capable of such evil. And it was heartbreaking to find out in the author's notes how the hardships continued for many of the survivors. (The excellent author's notes even had a number of photographs.)
I have already been recommending this book to others, and I will definitely be seeking out more by this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Scholastic Press for the early read.
Of course, this was a horrifying read too. It's almost incomprehensible that humans can be capable of such evil. And it was heartbreaking to find out in the author's notes how the hardships continued for many of the survivors. (The excellent author's notes even had a number of photographs.)
I have already been recommending this book to others, and I will definitely be seeking out more by this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Scholastic Press for the early read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews