The End of the Line by Sharon E. McKay; Annick Press Ltd, Canada; © 2014; ISBN 9781554-516582; 120 pages; PJ Our Way.
LA MESA, California – In 1942, Amsterdam, Beatrix, and her mother quickly boarded the tram to try to escape and blend in with the other passengers. The tram comes to a halt as a Nazi officer comes on board to check everyone’s identification cards. Beatrix’s mother shows her card that has a J (for Jewish) and is taken off the tram. Brothers, Hans, the tram conductor, in his 60s, and Lars, the ticket collector, in his 60s, immediately reply that Beatrix is their niece, and the Nazi officer moves on.
Beatrix is seated behind Hans for the remainder of their shift, and they get to the “end of the line” and realize they have no idea how to care for a young child, as they both never married or had children of their own.
Hans and Lars call on the elderly woman across the street, Mrs. Vos, to help them take care of Beatrix, and they all promise the young girl they will keep her safe. Another neighbor, Miss Leive, takes Beatrix to Catholic Mass every Sunday to prove she is not Jewish. The Gestapo, unfortunately, raids Miss Leive’s house and sends her to a concentration camp, but Beatrix escaped, and Lars and Hans find her hiding and do more to keep her safe by keeping the blinds closed and not letting her leave the house.
Eventually, the Canadians liberate the town, and everyone is free from the Nazi invasion.
The PJ Library selection continues with Beatrix being reunited with her mother, and Hans and Lars let her live with them. Eventually, Mrs. Vos, Hans, and Lars pass away from old age, leaving the house and savings for Beatrix to attend college. Beatrix gets married and has a daughter whom she names Leive, after Miss Leive, and they live happily ever after.
This historical fiction is recommended for middle grade, roughly between the ages of 8 and 12 years old. This was a touching story that had suspenseful parts and featured courageous “Righteous Gentiles” who risked their lives saving Jewish families from the Nazis.
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Cailin Acosta is the assistant editor of the San Diego Jewish World.