Marika #2

The book I read was Annexed and the book that I am reading now is Marika. Both books deal with young people who are faced with serious adult issues. Peter Vanpel was a young teenager who was forced to go into hiding with his family leaving his friends and all his belongings behind.  In the book Marika, The main character is a young first grade girl who is learning about Hitler and the hatred of Jews.  Both of these young people had to change the way they lived. Instead of leaving a normal young life. Each of them, had to adapt to what was happening in the world.

            Peter Van Pel’s family thought that Holland would be a safer palace for Jew’s to live since Holland was Neutral during World War I. Marik’s family thought that changing to Roman Catholic would help them stay safe. Both families would find out that their attempts to keep their family safe were not enough.  Both families ended up having to hide as the German’s began to invade other countries.

            Peter and Marika have some similar personality traits. Both of them are very smart. As matter of fact, Marika could read chapter books even before she started first grade. Peter enjoyed reading romance novels as he dreamed about being reunited with his first love, Liese.  One way that they were different was that Peter was shy and blushed easily. And Marika was strong willed and stubborn. Since Peter was so shy, he spoke seldom, but Marika was talkative and often questioned authority.

One of the differences between Peter Vanpel’s family and Marika’s family is that Peter VanPel’s family was religious. Peter’s mother cried when Peter made her a menorah so they could celebrate Hanukkah, while they were in hiding. They expressed that perhaps they too would have miracle and be free again. However, Marika’s father states that religion is an old fashioned idea so it does not matter if they practice Judaism or any other religion so, they might as well practice Catholicism so they can fit in better during this difficult time.