Briar Rose- Jane Yolen

This is an extraordinary book, to say the least. Expecting this to be an inventive re-telling of the fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty, I was taken aback, enchanted, and mesmerized by the tangent this writer chose. Far from being a typical fairy tale, this is truly more of an untold Holocaust story. Gemma and her sisters grow up hearing the story of Briar Rose from their grandmother; in which she is the enchanted princess who is awakened by a kiss. Although many parts of the story leave the sisters questioning, they think that perhaps their grandmother was indeed a princess in Europe. But when their grandmother dies and leaves only a few obscure items; a newspaper clipping and a faded photo, Gemma realizes that it is time to really investigate her grandmother’s past. Her path leads her to Poland and to a story that is almost too hard to hear, but one which interweaves with the story her grandmother has always told. This can be read by young adults but I would definitely recommend it for adults as well. An amazing story from a very talented writer.