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Hiding Abigail: The Girl with The Yellow Star
It is January 1942 and ten year old German boy Deiter can’t understand how with all the efforts by the Fuhrer and the soldiers to make his country great again, why does everything just seem to be getting worse. In only seven days his whole world falls apart as he waits for the evacuations to happen and bring Abigail the girl with the yellow star and everyone he loves to the countryside which he believes to be Just like heaven. The world and the war through the eyes of innocence. Brendan Mac an Mhaoir's first novel ''Hiding Abigail'' was inspired by stories from his father's youth, where his father's best friend was an orphaned German boy named Dieter. The story follows seven days in the life of Dieter from Bilker street Dusseldorf in the winter of 1942. With all that seems to be going wrong in his life, he seems not to understand or just ignore what's happening and daydream of a better future in the countryside with his family and Abigail.
An extremely enjoyable coming of age wartime story suitable for all ages.
PRAISE.
Sweet book. I really enjoyed this Sweet yet Sad Book, it was well written too. Everyone should read so History never ever repeats itself anywhere.
Terri Leigh Farmer
A beautiful story to remember. This story touched my heart. Elaboration will only dilute my feelings. I hope many will read it and appreciate this author's writing, sad but beautiful.
Manisha Mukherjee
Haunting and sad tale of a ten year old German boy during World War Two who is just trying to make sense of the world he lives in. I enjoyed this book from start to finish and felt as if I really got to know Deiter the main character very well and couldn’t wait to get back to reading this Novel every time I left it down. The book left me asking questions at the end as to what exactly happened to Abigail. I love when a book or Movie does this and it leaves you to figure it out for yourself what you think actually happened. The book flows from start to finish with the story of seven days in the life of Deiter. With some very funny memories thrown in too of his life in better times. Really worth a read as it is a beautiful haunting story and very well written too.
Brenda York
The book is charming, sad and in the end poignant evocative and haunting. An easy to read but nicely written book about a young boy during World war two. The book starts out at the end and we hear the story told through the eyes of Deiter as he goes through seven days of his life. Seven days of events that are all very strange to him which start out with stories and memories of better times. Stories of his family and the girl from next door. Once I started to read this book I found it easy to read and enjoyable from start to finish. Once I started I couldn’t leave it down and found I could relate in many ways to the main character and found him to be a very credible ten year old boy which isn’t always the case in many books. I checked on some of the events of the book and it turns out that they are in fact true like the appearance of Adolf Hitler on that very date at the sports palace in Berlin and the deportations from Dusseldorf freight station. Even the songs that were sang are real and the mention of the Bunkerkirche which was also built during the war. A book of fiction but true to real life events. Dan Young
Enjoy and please feel free to review 'Hiding Abigail. The girl with the yellow star'
An extremely enjoyable coming of age wartime story suitable for all ages.
PRAISE.
Sweet book. I really enjoyed this Sweet yet Sad Book, it was well written too. Everyone should read so History never ever repeats itself anywhere.
Terri Leigh Farmer
A beautiful story to remember. This story touched my heart. Elaboration will only dilute my feelings. I hope many will read it and appreciate this author's writing, sad but beautiful.
Manisha Mukherjee
Haunting and sad tale of a ten year old German boy during World War Two who is just trying to make sense of the world he lives in. I enjoyed this book from start to finish and felt as if I really got to know Deiter the main character very well and couldn’t wait to get back to reading this Novel every time I left it down. The book left me asking questions at the end as to what exactly happened to Abigail. I love when a book or Movie does this and it leaves you to figure it out for yourself what you think actually happened. The book flows from start to finish with the story of seven days in the life of Deiter. With some very funny memories thrown in too of his life in better times. Really worth a read as it is a beautiful haunting story and very well written too.
Brenda York
The book is charming, sad and in the end poignant evocative and haunting. An easy to read but nicely written book about a young boy during World war two. The book starts out at the end and we hear the story told through the eyes of Deiter as he goes through seven days of his life. Seven days of events that are all very strange to him which start out with stories and memories of better times. Stories of his family and the girl from next door. Once I started to read this book I found it easy to read and enjoyable from start to finish. Once I started I couldn’t leave it down and found I could relate in many ways to the main character and found him to be a very credible ten year old boy which isn’t always the case in many books. I checked on some of the events of the book and it turns out that they are in fact true like the appearance of Adolf Hitler on that very date at the sports palace in Berlin and the deportations from Dusseldorf freight station. Even the songs that were sang are real and the mention of the Bunkerkirche which was also built during the war. A book of fiction but true to real life events. Dan Young
Enjoy and please feel free to review 'Hiding Abigail. The girl with the yellow star'
153 pages, Paperback
Published April 12, 2018
56 people are currently reading
170 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 18, 2018
The book is charming, sad and in the end poignant evocative and haunting. An easy to read but nicely written book about a young boy during World war two. The book starts out at the end and we hear the story told through the eyes of Deiter as he goes through seven days of his life. Seven days of events that are all very strange to him which start out with stories and memories of better times. Stories of his family and the girl from next door.
Once I started to read this book I found it easy to read and enjoyable from start to finish. Once I started I couldn’t leave it down and found I could relate in many ways to the main character and found him to be a very credible ten year old boy which isn’t always the case in many books. I checked on some of the events of the book and it turns out that they are in fact true like the appearance of Adolf Hitler on that very date at the sports palace in Berlin and the deportations from Dusseldorf freight station. Even the songs that were sang are real and the mention of the Bunkerkirche which was also built during the war. A book of fiction but true to real life events.
But what happened to Abigail is the real question I had at the end. We are left wondering.
Well worth a read!!!
Once I started to read this book I found it easy to read and enjoyable from start to finish. Once I started I couldn’t leave it down and found I could relate in many ways to the main character and found him to be a very credible ten year old boy which isn’t always the case in many books. I checked on some of the events of the book and it turns out that they are in fact true like the appearance of Adolf Hitler on that very date at the sports palace in Berlin and the deportations from Dusseldorf freight station. Even the songs that were sang are real and the mention of the Bunkerkirche which was also built during the war. A book of fiction but true to real life events.
But what happened to Abigail is the real question I had at the end. We are left wondering.
Well worth a read!!!
October 15, 2018
Beautifully written sad story of a young boy during World War Two. The story of his Love for the girl next door. The girl he loves but can’t tell her how he feels because he is just too afraid. He spends his time dreaming that they will end up living together in a better place. Although as is the case in many love stories they can never be together because of the times they live in and society would never accept it. Both very young but I think this is the message here. He doesn’t fully understand everything that is happening in his world over these seven days of his life. The story is quite funny at times but in the end very sad and a little haunting. The ending of this story although hard to figure out I think was written metaphorically through a dream in the last chapter that seems to tell us that everyone is in heaven while he is in hell on earth. Really well worth reading.
December 13, 2018
Written in the first person through the eye's of a young boy during world war two. The story was enjoyable throughout but what an extremely sad ending.
The author seemed to be foreshadowing at different times during the story. We know about the gun in the office, which was a perfect example of this, also I can't help but wonder was the book the little boy pretended to read while the soldiers searched the house an example of this too. And then there were none. Agatha Christie.
What a lovely little book that will leave you with plenty of questions in the end and certainly give you something to think about. You will have to read to appreciate the author's writing, Beautiful and in the end extremely sad and haunting.
The author seemed to be foreshadowing at different times during the story. We know about the gun in the office, which was a perfect example of this, also I can't help but wonder was the book the little boy pretended to read while the soldiers searched the house an example of this too. And then there were none. Agatha Christie.
What a lovely little book that will leave you with plenty of questions in the end and certainly give you something to think about. You will have to read to appreciate the author's writing, Beautiful and in the end extremely sad and haunting.
March 11, 2022
I enjoyed this book from start to finish and felt as if I really got to know Deiter the main character very well and couldn’t wait to get back to reading this Novel every time I left it down. The book left me asking questions at the end as to what exactly happened to Abigail. I love when a book or Movie does this and it leaves you to figure it out for yourself what you think actually happened. The book flows from start to finish with the story of seven days in the life of Deiter. With some very funny memories thrown in too of his life in better times. Really worth a read as it is a beautiful haunting story and very well written too.
December 7, 2018
What an extremely sad book with such a sad ending. I loved the book from the start and all the way through but the ending came to quick. I was disappointed it had to end so fast. I looked forward to hearing more stories of when they did finally make it to the safety of the countryside. I was so sad that it never came to be. The end of the second last chapter was a little disturbing and I was left wondering what happened but while reading the last chapter it still managed to make me cry. Written through the eye's of an eleven year old boy which was also very well narrated by the author and so enjoyable throughout. It is a lovely book to read and well worth reading. Five Stars
January 2, 2019
I finished this book yesterday and I'm still having trouble trying to figure out the ending. The story is entertaining, cute, funny, sad, confusing, disturbing, haunting and all in that order. Well worth a read.
June 20, 2018
Sweet book
I really enjoyed this Sweet yet Sad Book, it was well written too. Everyone should read so History never ever repeats itself anywhete
I really enjoyed this Sweet yet Sad Book, it was well written too. Everyone should read so History never ever repeats itself anywhete
March 4, 2022
What an extremely sad book. Because I read quite a lot of novels set around World War Two I love the fact that the author took a a slightly different path with his storytelling. I've read other reviews before I started reading and a lot are using the word haunting which it truly is. What a well observed look through the eyes of a young boy at the world during ww2. Everybody should read this book and more like it as a reminder of past history and how this could very easily happen again. Especially today in these times we live in. I wasn't expecting such a sad ending and I wondered what actually happened to everyone but I think they all died. (This is not a spoiler because I'm not sure)
Well worth reading especially today in today's world and with the war happening now.
Well worth reading especially today in today's world and with the war happening now.
July 16, 2018
Badly edited, yet compelling tale - intended for whom?
This book is a bit of an anomaly. On the one hand, it is an astonishingly well observed portrait of a ten year old German boy, Deiter, as he tries to make sense of the war-riven country in which he lives and, on the other, it is probably the worst edited and formatted e-book I have ever read. I was compiling a list of editorial points in my notes on the Kindle book before I discovered that I could report both editorial and formatting problems directly to Amazon. I have no idea how many such reports I submitted but I do have 50 notes...
Then there is the question of who is the target readership. At the outset, I felt it was suitable for adults, but after lengthy digressions about pranks and illicit chocolate eating, neither of which furthered the plot, I wasn't so sure. Overall, I think it is better suited to a younger market, since nothing is explored in much detail. Having said that, it is a good story - and a haunting one - narrated by a totally credible ten year old, whom I feel I know personally.
This book is a bit of an anomaly. On the one hand, it is an astonishingly well observed portrait of a ten year old German boy, Deiter, as he tries to make sense of the war-riven country in which he lives and, on the other, it is probably the worst edited and formatted e-book I have ever read. I was compiling a list of editorial points in my notes on the Kindle book before I discovered that I could report both editorial and formatting problems directly to Amazon. I have no idea how many such reports I submitted but I do have 50 notes...
Then there is the question of who is the target readership. At the outset, I felt it was suitable for adults, but after lengthy digressions about pranks and illicit chocolate eating, neither of which furthered the plot, I wasn't so sure. Overall, I think it is better suited to a younger market, since nothing is explored in much detail. Having said that, it is a good story - and a haunting one - narrated by a totally credible ten year old, whom I feel I know personally.
December 3, 2025
The main character was written a lot younger and oblivious than a 10 year old. I thought he was seven. 10 year olds were already in the hitler youth, there’s no way he would have not known what everything was.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews