When the World Was Ours

Name: When the World Was Ours
Brand: Simon & Schuster Audio
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.33 (3 reviews)
Author: Liz Kessler
ISBN: 9781797130088

Author: Liz Kessler

Narrator: Tom Lawrence, Willow Nash

Unabridged: 7 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Published: 05/18/2021

Categories: Young Adult Fiction, Social Themes, Historical Fiction

Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Emily Windsnap series, Liz Kessler, comes a “brutally honest and totally believable” (Booklist, starred review) story of three young friends whose fates are intertwined during the devastation of the Holocaust—based on a true story.

Three friends. One memory.
Vienna. 1936.

Three young friends—Leo, Elsa, and Max—spend a perfect day together, unaware that around them Europe is descending into a growing darkness and that they will soon be cruelly ripped apart from one another. With their lives taking them across Europe—to Germany, England, Prague, and Poland—will they ever find their way back to one another? Will they want to?

Inspired by a true story, When the World Was Ours is an extraordinary novel that is as powerful as it is heartbreaking and that shows how the bonds of love, family, and friendship allow glimmers of hope to flourish, even in the most hopeless of times.

About Liz Kessler

Liz Kessler has written over twenty books for children and young adults. Most of these are middle grade books featuring mermaids, fairies, time travel, and superpowers. She lives in the UK.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Claude's on August 11, 2021

CW: War crimes on page Well that was quite moving actually. Through the eyes of three children we see the devastation that was brought about by the Nazi regime. Initially the story is told with all the joy and innocence of childhood, but slowly the voices change to ones of suspicion, confusion, and fe......more

Goodreads review by Willow Anne on August 12, 2021

This book was absolutely amazing. But it was heartbreaking as well. I couldn't put it down, and then I sobbed through about the last 50 pages of this book. It hurt. I hurt for Max, and Elsa, and Leo, and his family and everyone who was affected by all this wretchedness. But the part that made me cry......more

Goodreads review by Darla on May 09, 2021

Three friends (Leo, Elsa, and Max) celebrate a 9th birthday in Vienna. They are on top of the world, literally on the Riesenrad. It is 1936. Two of the children are Jewish. As Hitler rises to power in Germany in the years to follow, the three friends are pulled apart. The three paths will intertwine......more

Goodreads review by Elisa on June 29, 2022

WARNING: this book will make you cry. I'm not saying just a few droplets here and there, I'm talking Niagara falls here! Prepare an entire tissue box. This book has the honour of being the only book that has ever made me cry. I never cry, but this was different. This book was amazing, I loved everyth......more

Goodreads review by Natalie "Curling up with a Coffee and a Kindle" on March 10, 2021

I take a deep breath as I write this, and try to make sense of my thoughts after finishing this book. This was a raw, unflinching look at the Holocaust but it was told in such an original way. 3 children who grew up together, then their lives went separate ways and yet they were all connected by one......more

Quotes

"Narrators Tom Lawrence and Willow Nash portray Leo, Max, and Elsa, three youngsters who come of age during Hitler's rise to power and the horrors of the Holocaust. Both narrators offer clear, precise enunciation and excellent pacing in their performances."