''Rose Under Fire'' is a

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

Elizabeth Wein Elizabeth E. Wein (, born October 2, 1964) is an American-born writer best known for her young adult historical fiction. She holds both American and British citizenship. Personal life Elizabeth E. Wein was born in New York City on October 2, ...

, set in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and published in 2013. The novel follows Rose Justice, an 18-year-old American volunteer

Air Transport Auxiliary The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between fac ...

pilot who is captured by the ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'' on a flight in France in 1944, and is sent to the

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a Nazi concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure of 1 ...

. Imprisoned together with Polish victims of

Nazi human experimentation Nazi human experimentation was a series of medical experiments on prisoners by Nazi Germany in its concentration camps mainly between 1942 and 1945. There were 15,754 documented victims, of various nationalities and age groups, although the t ...

and

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

prisoners of war, she survives the camp thanks to her poetry and friendship with the other captives, eventually escaping to later participate in the

Hamburg Ravensbrück Trials The Hamburg Ravensbrück trials were seven trials for war crimes during the Holocaust against camp officials from the Ravensbrück concentration camp that the British authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Hamburg after the end ...

and the Doctors' Trial against Nazi war criminals. The novel follows up Wein's previous novel '' Code Name Verity'', and a few characters from that novel appear in ''Rose Under Fire''.

Critical reception

''Rose Under Fire'' received positive reviews from critics. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' wrote in a starred review of the novel that "Wein excels at weaving research seamlessly into narrative and has crafted another indelible story about friendship borne out of unimaginable adversity". According to ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

''s starred review, "at the core of this novel is the resilience of human nature and the power of friendship and hope". Barrie Hardymon of

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, comparing it to ''Code Name Verity'', wrote that ''Rose Under Fire'' is "a quieter, less breathless read, which ultimately makes it that much more devastating." The novel won the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

's 2013

Schneider Family Book Award The Schneider Family Book Award is an award given by the American Library Association (ALA) recognizing authors and illustrators for the excellence of portrayal of the disability experience in literature for youth. There is a category for children ...

for "books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience", for its portrayal of the victims of Nazi medical experimentation. It was shortlisted for the

2013 Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

in the Children's Book category.

References

External links

Educator's Guide for ''Rose Under Fire''
{Wikiquote 2013 American novels American young adult novels American historical novels American thriller novels Novels set during World War II Fiction set in 1944 Novels set in France Novels set in Germany Novels set in the United Kingdom Epistolary novels Novels about the Holocaust Electric Monkey books Hyperion Books books