Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

 

"I've spent two years wanting nobody to trust me, wanting not to be depended on. But now I have seen a transport, and I have seen a deportation center, and I have seen the hopeful handwriting of a frightened girl, and I have seen brave people forced to hide, and mean people become secretly brave, so when I open my mouth, I say to Willem: 'You can [trust me]. I'll do my best, Willem.'"

                     -from the novel

I am not sure how this book arrived in my house. It is likely someone loaned it to me; no idea who. Historical fiction is my favorite genre and this one did not disappoint. One could possibly call this novel a "history mystery."

Hanneke Bakker is a young woman in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam who is a self-proclaimed "finder." That is, she works the black-market supplying hard-to-find goods to paying customers. When a customer, Mrs. Janssen, asks her to find a missing Jewish girl who she has been hiding, Hanneke does not want to get involved in such a dangerous mission at first. When she finally decides she will take on the search, she soon becomes even more involved with the Dutch resistance movement, which includes many young people of Hanneke's age. 

I learned that some in the resistance, like Mina in the story, took photographs in hopes of documenting the disturbing events for history.

My husband and I were fortunate to visit Amsterdam several years ago and what a fascinating city! There were several things mentioned in this novel that took me back. Hanneke and her friends ride bicycles and we saw many, many bicycles everywhere. Also, we took the ferry into town along with many cyclists. We visited Westerkerk, the church Hanneke mentions. Of course, there are references to canals and Amsterdam Centraal, the transportation hub that we walked through many times. We got to sample stroopwafels while we were there, too.

Although this book is labeled Young Adult Fiction, I found it compelling; my rating is 4. The writing is lovely, in parts quite profound. It seems thoroughly researched and the plot and characters are well developed. I really liked "A Note on Historical Accuracy" at the end and the Acknowledgments which included this: "And finally: So much of what the world knows about the war, the city, and the human experience is because of one particular book, written from an attic, in the middle of the occupation. I am most profoundly grateful to Anne." Aren't we all grateful to Anne Frank!