Briar+Rose

1. From whose perspective is the story told? (A Jew? A Nazi? A survivor? A Righteous Gentile? A Descendant of a survivor?) What are the benefits of getting the story from this perspective?

The story being told in __Briar Rose__ is told bounces between being told from the perspective of a survivor as well as the descendant of a survivor. The Holocaust survivor, Gemma, tells her survival story in the form of the fairy-tale "Briar Rose." Of course, many details are changed from that of the original fairy-tale because it is not a fairy-tale at all, but it is the story of how she got out of the hands of the Nazis. The rest of the book is told from the perspective of Gemma's granddaughter, Becca. Because Gemma was very illusive about her past, only referring to it through her Briar Rose stories, Becca makes it her job to uncover Gemma's past.

2. What life lesson did you learn from the plot of this story?

I learned that anything can be accomplished if you put forth the necessary amount of effort. Becca only had clues and tidbits of information about Gemma's past, but she wanted to know where Gemma came from so badly that she mustered up every resource that she could think of to accomplish this desire.

3. What did you like most about this book?

My favorite aspect about __Briar Rose__ was the portions of the book that mirrored the original fairy-tale. I love fairy-tale stories, and it was very interesting to see such a thing adapted to a Holocaust survival story.

4. How does this text relate, if at all, to //Parallel Journeys//?

__Briar Rose__ and __Parallel Journeys__ are really only related to each other because they both deal with the Holocaust. Even thought Gemma was in a concentration camp, we never hear first hand from her what she actually went through. The story is about a granddaughter trying to uncover her grandmothers mysterious past. __Parallel Journeys__ followed the lives of two people during the Holocaust and was much more effective of a book.

5. How could you use this book to teach the Holocaust?

Honestly, this book was not as much about the Holocaust as I would have liked it to be. The plot is more focused on Becca's journey to find out about where Gemma came from. However, if I had to use __Briar Rose__ to teach the Holocaust, I would research the names of well-known people who lived through, survived, or had anything to do with the Holocaust and have my students research and figure out their chosen person's story the way that Becca discovered Gemma's story.

6. Would you recommend this book to a friend?

Honestly, I probably would not recommend this book to a friend. While it was a somewhat enjoyable read, there is nothing about it that makes me say, "Woah, I need to spead the word about this book!" It was just okay.

-Jessica Roques