Book 1 in the Anastasia Krupnik series

Just after her tenth birthday Anastasia Krupnik starts two lists. One is for THINGS I LOVE!, the other is for THINGS I HATE! The things Anastasia loves include Mounds candy bars, the lovely pink wart that just popped out on her left thumb, and Washburn Cummings, a boy from her class. But the THINGS I HATE! column is growing bigger and bigger by the minutes, starting with her name, which is so long it won't fit across a tee shirt without disappearing into her armpits.

Freckles and liver and pumpkin pie are bad enough, but now Anastasia's parents have decided to make her life miserable by having a baby. So, even though it is already too cramped in their tiny apartment, in nine months there will be a new baby brother in the house taking up everyone's time and attention.

When her parents try to often the blow by allowing her to choose a name for the baby, Anastasia thinks she has found her revenge. On one of the last pages in her green notebook, in extremely small print, Anastasia pencils in the most terrible name she can think of.

Ten year old Annemarie can recall a time when there were no German soldiers in Denmark, when you could walk down the streets without fear or worry. But the soldiers of occupation have been in Copenhagen for three long years, and it looks as if they are there to stay. Sometimes Annemarie wonders if her country will ever be free again.

Then the news arrive that Jews are being forcibly removed from their homes and relocated. Annemarie's best friend Ellen Rosen is a Jew. Will the Rosens be taken too? The truth behind the rumors hits the Johansen family with force when Ellen is brought to their home in secret late one night.

Annemarie is afraid for her friend and wants to do all that she can to help. She admires the resistance fighters who put their lives on the line to free their country and come to the aid of their less fortunate compatriots. But Annemarie wonders: if it were up to her to save Ellen's life, would she be brave enough?