1Courage you don't feel
Annemarie insists she isn't brave — she's the girl who didn't know what was in the casket, who didn't know what the handkerchief was for. Henrik tells her, 'It is much easier to be brave if you do not know everything,' and the whole escape runs on that principle: the children don't know, the refugees don't know, even Annemarie on her run doesn't know. Yet she still goes, heart pounding, reciting Little Red Riding-Hood to herself. The book's point is that courage isn't fearlessness; it's doing the frightening thing anyway, often while knowing as little as possible.
Characters:Annemarie JohansenUncle Henrik
2Ordinary neighbors as heroes
No one in this book wears a cape. A mother lies about typhus. A fisherman says the weather is good for fishing when it's gray and misty. Five-year-old Kirsti distracts soldiers by chattering about her shoes. Danish scientists soak a handkerchief with rabbit's blood and cocaine to numb the noses of tracking dogs. Lowry's point is that resistance is not a profession; it's a choice available to anyone, including a ten-year-old with a basket.
Characters:Kirsti Johansen
3Friendship across difference
Annemarie and Ellen are best friends first — they race home from school together, they joke. When Ellen's family is targeted simply for being Jewish, the Johansens don't hesitate: Ellen poses as their dead daughter. In the end, Annemarie wears Ellen's Star of David herself, promising to wear it until Ellen comes home. The book's point is that love between friends can be stronger than a regime's categories.
Characters:Annemarie JohansenEllen Rosen
4What children can bear to know
The adults in this book constantly manage what the children know. Mrs. Johansen takes the girls to Uncle Henrik's house in Gilleleje, telling them it is for a visit. Henrik tells Annemarie, 'It is much easier to be brave if you do not know everything.' Annemarie confronts Henrik, who tells her she should not know too much. The book asks a hard question: when does shielding a child become deceiving her?
Characters:Annemarie JohansenMrs. JohansenUncle Henrik
5Loss as the price of rescue
The escape succeeds, but nobody gets out clean. Lise is dead, run down by a truck while working with the Resistance. Peter is captured and executed, buried in an unmarked grave. Mrs. Johansen's ankle is broken. Ellen leaves her necklace behind. Even the ending is bittersweet: Denmark is liberated, but Ellen is still in Sweden, and Annemarie is wearing her symbol for her.
Characters:Annemarie JohansenEllen RosenPeter NeilsenMrs. JohansenLise Johansen