Number the Stars

by

Lois Lowry

Annemarie Johansen Character Analysis

The protagonist of the novel, ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen is an outgoing and ambitious young girl who maintains a cheerful outlook even as her Nazi-occupied hometown of Copenhagen becomes a dangerous place for her and her best friend Ellen Rosen, who is Jewish. Annemarie remembers the plentiful and carefree existence her family enjoyed before the war with longing—since the occupation and the death of her older sister, Lise, in a mysterious hit-and-run accident, nothing has been the same. Still, Annemarie believes that she and her family—“ordinary people”—will be able to wait out the war peacefully and safely by keeping their heads down, and will never be called upon to fight or act. However, when the Nazis begin shuttering local Jewish businesses and rounding up Jews for purposes of “relocating” them Annemarie and her family take in Ellen, who lives downstairs, while Ellen’s parents flee with members of the Resistance. Annemarie and Ellen’s friendship turns into something stronger as they pretend to be sisters in order to shelter Ellen from the Nazis. When it becomes clear that the officers are suspicious of Ellen’s presence in the Johansen household, however, Annemarie’s Mama and Papa decide to bring Ellen to the countryside to seek refuge. Annemarie, her younger sister Kirsti, her mother, and Ellen travel to Mama’s brother and Annemarie’s uncle Henrik’s house at the seaside, and there Annemarie learns that her family is not as ordinary as she thought. Henrik is a smuggler, deeply entrenched in the Resistance—he helps hide Jews in his fishing boat and ferries them across the sea to Sweden, and to freedom. As Annemarie’s ignorance lifts and she learns more and more about what’s truly at stake for her family, she is called upon to be brave in a way she never has before as she and her family work to ensure that Ellen, her parents, and several other Danish Jews can safely escape the country that has, in many ways, turned against them. As Annemarie learns important lessons about bravery, solidarity, sacrifice, and sisterhood, so too do Lowry’s readers.

Annemarie Johansen Quotes in Number the Stars

The Number the Stars quotes below are all either spoken by Annemarie Johansen or refer to Annemarie Johansen. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

“Mama, is there anything to eat?” Annemarie asked, hoping to take her mother’s mind away from the soldiers.

“Take some bread. And give a piece to your sister.”

“With butter?” Kirsti asked hopefully.

“No butter,” her mother replied. “You know that.”

Kirsti sighed as Annemarie went to the breadbox in the kitchen. “I wish I could have a cupcake,” she said. “A big yellow cupcake, with pink frosting.”

Her mother laughed. “For a little girl, you have a long memory,” she told Kirsti. “There hasn’t been any butter, or sugar for cupcakes, for a long time. A year, at least.”

“When will there be cupcakes again?”

“When the war ends,” Mrs. Johansen said. She glanced through the window, down to the street corner where the soldiers stood, their faces impassive beneath the metal helmets. “When the soldiers leave.”

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Kirsti Johansen (speaker), Mrs. Johansen/Mama (speaker)
Page Number: 9-10
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2 Quotes

Redheaded Peter, her sister’s fiancé, had not married anyone in the years since Lise’s death. He had changed a great deal. Once he had been like a fun-loving older brother to Annemarie and Kirsti, teasing and tickling, always a source of foolishness and pranks. Now he still stopped by the apartment often, and his greetings to the girls were warm and smiling, but he was usually in a hurry, talking quickly to Mama and Papa about things Annemarie didn’t understand. He no longer sang the nonsense songs that had once made Annemarie and Kirsti shriek with laughter. And he never lingered anymore.

Papa had changed, too. He seemed much older and very tired, defeated.

The whole world had changed. Only the fairy tales remained the same.

“And they lived happily ever after,” Annemarie recited, whispering into the dark, completing the tale for her sister, who slept beside her, one thumb in her mouth.

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Kirsti Johansen, Mrs. Johansen/Mama, Peter Neilsen, Lise Johansen, Mr. Johansen/Papa
Page Number: 17
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

Now she was ten, with long legs and no more silly dreams of pink-frosted cupcakes. And now she—and all the Danes—were to be bodyguard for Ellen, and Ellen’s parents, and all of Denmark’s Jews.

Would she die to protect them? Truly? Annemarie was honest enough to admit, there in the darkness, to herself, that she wasn’t sure.

For a moment she felt frightened. But she pulled the blanket up higher around her neck and relaxed. It was all imaginary, anyway—not real. It was only in the fairy tales that people were called upon to be so brave, to die for one another. Not in real-life Denmark. Oh, there were the soldiers; that was true. And the courageous Resistance leaders, who sometimes lost their lives; that was true, too.

But ordinary people like the Rosens and the Johansens? Annemarie admitted to herself, snuggling there in the quiet dark, that she was glad to be an ordinary person who would never be called upon for courage.

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen, Ellen Rosen, Mrs. Johansen/Mama, Mr. Johansen/Papa, Mrs. Rosen, Mr. Rosen, King Christian
Page Number: 25-26
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

Alone in the apartment while Mama was out shopping with Kirsti, Annemarie and Ellen were sprawled on the living room floor playing with paper dolls. They had cut the dolls from Mama’s magazines, old ones she had saved from past years. The paper ladies had old-fashioned hair styles and clothes, and the girls had given them names from Mama’s very favorite book. Mama had told Annemarie and Ellen the entire story of Gone With the Wind, and the girls thought it much more interesting and romantic than the king-and-queen tales that Kirsti loved.

“Come, Melanie,” Annemarie said, walking her doll across the edge of the rug. “Let’s dress for the ball.”

“All right, Scarlett, I’m coming,” Ellen replied in a sophisticated voice. She was a talented performer; she often played the leading roles in school dramatics. Games of the imagination were always fun when Ellen played.

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Ellen Rosen (speaker), Kirsti Johansen, Mrs. Johansen/Mama
Page Number: 27
Explanation and Analysis:

Annemarie grinned and walked her Scarlett toward the chair that Ellen had designated as Tivoli. She loved Tivoli Gardens, in the heart of Copenhagen; her parents had taken her there, often, when she was a little girl. She remembered the music and the brightly colored lights, the carousel and ice cream and especially the magnificent fireworks in the evenings: the huge colored splashes and bursts of lights in the evening sky.

“I remember the fireworks best of all,” she commented to Ellen.

“Me too,” Kirsti said. “I remember the fireworks.”

“Silly,” Annemarie scoffed. “You never saw the fireworks.” Tivoli Gardens was closed now. The German occupation forces had burned part of it, perhaps as a way of punishing the fun-loving Danes for their lighthearted pleasures.

Kirsti drew herself up, her small shoulders stiff. “I did too,” she said belligerently. “It was my birthday. I woke up in the night and I could hear the booms. And there were lights in the sky. Mama said it was fireworks for my birthday!”

Then Annemarie remembered. Kirsti’s birthday was late in August. And that night, only a month before, she, too, had been awakened and frightened by the sound of explosions. Kirsti was right—the sky in the southeast had been ablaze, and Mama had comforted her by calling it a birthday celebration.

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Kirsti Johansen (speaker), Ellen Rosen, Mrs. Johansen/Mama
Page Number: 30-31
Explanation and Analysis:

“You said that we would hide her. How can we do that? Where can she hide?”

Papa smiled. “That part is easy. It will be as your mama said: you two will sleep together in your bed, and you may giggle and talk and tell secrets to each other. And if anyone comes—”

Ellen interrupted him. “Who might come? Will it be soldiers? Like the ones on the corners?” Annemarie remembered how terrified Ellen had looked the day when the soldier had questioned them on the corner.

“I really don’t think anyone will. But it never hurts to be prepared. If anyone should come, even soldiers, you two will be sisters. You are together so much, it will be easy for you to pretend that you are sisters.”

[…]

Annemarie and Ellen got to their feet. Papa suddenly crossed the room and put his arms around them both. He kissed the top of each head: Annemarie’s blond one, which reached to his shoulder, and Ellen’s dark hair, the thick curls braided as always into pigtails.

“Don’t be frightened,” he said to them softly. “Once I had three daughters. Tonight I am proud to have three daughters again.”

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Ellen Rosen (speaker), Mr. Johansen/Papa (speaker)
Page Number: 37-38
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

“Ellen,” [Annemarie] whispered urgently, “take your necklace off!”

Ellen’s hands flew to her neck. Desperately she began trying to unhook the tiny clasp. Outside the bedroom door, the harsh voices and heavy footsteps continued.

“I can’t get it open!” Ellen said frantically. “I never take it off—I can’t even remember how to open it!”

Annemarie heard a voice just outside the door. “What is here?”

“Shhh,” her mother replied. “My daughters’ bedroom. They are sound asleep.”

“Hold still,” Annemarie commanded. “This will hurt.” She grabbed the little gold chain, yanked with all her strength, and broke it. As the door opened and light flooded into the bedroom, she crumpled it into her hand and closed her fingers tightly.

Terrified, both girls looked up at the three Nazi officers who entered the room.

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Ellen Rosen (speaker), Mrs. Johansen/Mama (speaker)
Related Symbols: Ellen’s Necklace
Page Number: 45
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

“So, Henrik, is the weather good for fishing?” Papa asked cheerfully, and listened briefly.

Then he continued, “I’m sending Inge to you today with the children, and she will be bringing you a carton of cigarettes.

“Yes, just one,” he said, after a moment. Annemarie couldn’t hear Uncle Henrik’s words. “But there are a lot of cigarettes available in Copenhagen now, if you know where to look,” he went on, “and so there will be others coming to you as well, I’m sure.”

But it wasn’t true. Annemarie was quite certain it wasn’t true. Cigarettes were the thing that Papa missed, the way Mama missed coffee. He complained often—he had complained only yesterday—that there were no cigarettes in the stores. The men in his office, he said, making a face, smoked almost anything: sometimes dried weeds rolled in paper, and the smell was terrible.

Why was Papa speaking that way, almost as if he were speaking in code? What was Mama really taking to Uncle Henrik?

Then she knew. It was Ellen.

Related Characters: Mr. Johansen/Papa (speaker), Annemarie Johansen, Ellen Rosen, Mrs. Johansen/Mama, Uncle Henrik
Page Number: 53
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

Ellen touched her neck after she had put on Annemarie’s flower-sprigged nightgown, which Mama had packed.

“Where is my necklace?” she asked. “What did you do with it?”

“I hid it in a safe place,” Annemarie told her. “A very secret place where no one will ever find it. And I will keep it there for you until it is safe for you to wear it again.”

Ellen nodded. “Papa gave it to me when I was very small,” she explained.

She sat down on the edge of the old bed and ran her fingers along the handmade quilt that covered it. The flowers and birds, faded now, had been stitched onto the quilt by Annemarie’s great-grandmother many years before.

“I wish I knew where my parents are,” Ellen said in a small voice as she outlined one of the appliqued birds with her finger.

Annemarie didn’t have an answer for her. She patted Ellen’s hand and they sat together silently.

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Ellen Rosen (speaker), Mrs. Johansen/Mama, Mr. Rosen
Related Symbols: Ellen’s Necklace
Page Number: 64-65
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

“How brave are you, little Annemarie?” [Uncle Henrik] asked suddenly. She was startled. And dismayed. It was a question she did not want to be asked. When she asked it of herself, she didn’t like her own answer.

“Not very,” she confessed, looking at the floor of the barn.

Tall Uncle Henrik knelt before her so that his face was level with hers. Behind him, Blossom lowered her head, grasped a mouthful of hay in her mouth, and drew it in with her tongue. The kitten cocked its head, waiting, still hoping for spilled milk.

“I think that is not true,” Uncle Henrik said. “I think you are like your mama, and like your papa, and like me. Frightened, but determined, and if the time came to be brave, I am quite sure you would be very, very brave.

“But,” he added, “it is much easier to be brave if you do not know everything. And so your mama does not know everything. Neither do I. We know only what we need to know.

“Do you understand what I am saying?” he asked, looking into her eyes.

Annemarie frowned. She wasn’t sure. What did bravery mean?

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Uncle Henrik (speaker)
Page Number: 75-76
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

[Peter’s] eyes turned to the page he had opened at random, and he began to read in a strong voice.

O praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing psalms to our God!
How pleasant to praise him!
The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem;
he gathers in the scattered sons of Israel.
It is he who heals the broken in spirit
and binds up their wounds,
he who numbers the stars one by one . . .

[…]

The words were unfamiliar to her, and she tried to listen, tried to understand, tried to forget the war and the Nazis, tried not to cry, tried to be brave. The night breeze moved the dark curtains at the open windows. Outside, she knew, the sky was speckled with stars. How could anyone number them one by one, as the psalm said? There were too many. The sky was too big.

Ellen had said that her mother was frightened of the ocean, that it was too cold and too big.

The sky was, too, thought Annemarie. The whole world was: too cold, too big. And too cruel.

Related Characters: Peter Neilsen (speaker), Annemarie Johansen, Ellen Rosen, Mrs. Johansen/Mama, Mrs. Rosen
Page Number: 86-87
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

“The old man stumbled. But Peter helped him up. He didn’t seem to be hurt. Maybe just his pride,” she added, smiling a bit.

It was an odd word: pride. Annemarie looked at the Rosens, sitting there, wearing the misshapen, ill-fitting clothing, holding ragged blankets folded in their arms, their faces drawn and tired. She remembered the earlier, happier times: Mrs. Rosen, her hair neatly combed and covered, lighting the Sabbath candles, saying the ancient prayer. And Mr. Rosen, sitting in the big chair in their living room, studying his thick books, correcting papers, adjusting his glasses, looking up now and then to complain good-naturedly about the lack of decent light. She remembered Ellen in the school play, moving confidently across the stage, her gestures sure, her voice clear.

All of those things, those sources of pride—the candlesticks, the books, the daydreams of theater—had been left behind in Copenhagen. They had nothing with them now; there was only the clothing of unknown people for warmth, the food from Henrik’s farm for survival, and the dark path ahead, through the woods, to freedom.

[…]

But their shoulders were as straight as they had been in the past: in the classroom, on the stage, at the Sabbath table. So there were other sources, too, of pride, and they had not left everything behind.

Related Characters: Mrs. Johansen/Mama (speaker), Annemarie Johansen, Ellen Rosen, Uncle Henrik, Mrs. Rosen, Mr. Rosen
Page Number: 93-94
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

“So little Red Riding-Hood carried the basket of food and hurried along through the woods. It was a lovely morning, and birds were singing. Little Red Riding-Hood sang, too, as she walked.”

Sometimes she changed that part of the story, telling it to Kirsti. Sometimes it was raining, or even snowing, in the woods. Sometimes it was evening, with long, frightening shadows, so that Kirsti, listening, would snuggle closer and wrap her arms around Annemarie. But now, telling it to herself, she wanted sunlight and bird song.

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Kirsti Johansen
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

Annemarie’s mind raced. She remembered what her mother had said. “If anyone stops you, you must pretend to be nothing more than a silly little girl.”

She stared at the soldiers. She remembered how she had stared at the others, frightened, when they had stopped her on the street.

Kirsti hadn’t been frightened. Kirsti had been—well, nothing more than a silly little girl, angered because the soldier had touched her hair that after noon. She had known nothing of danger, and the soldier had been amused by her.

Annemarie willed herself, with all her being, to behave as Kirsti would.

“Good morning,” she said carefully to the soldiers.

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Kirsti Johansen, Mrs. Johansen/Mama
Page Number: 113
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“Uncle Henrik,” [Annemarie] asked, “where are the Rosens and the others? I thought you were taking them to Sweden on your boat. But they weren’t there.”

“They were there,” he told her, leaning forward against the cow’s broad side. “You shouldn’t know this. You remember that I told you it was safer not to know.

“But,” he went on, as his hands moved with their sure and practiced motion, “I will tell you just a little, because you were so very brave.”

“Brave?” Annemarie asked, surprised. “No, I wasn’t. I was very frightened.”

“You risked your life.”

“But I didn’t even think about that! I was only thinking of—”

He interrupted her, smiling. “That’s all that brave means—not thinking about the dangers. Just thinking about what you must do. Of course you were frightened. I was too, today. But you kept your mind on what you had to do. So did I. Now let me tell you about the Rosens.”

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Uncle Henrik (speaker), Ellen Rosen, Mrs. Rosen, Mr. Rosen
Page Number: 122-23
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

That night, Annemarie’s parents told her the truth about Lise’s death at the beginning of the war.

“She was part of the Resistance, too,” Papa had explained. “Part of the group that fought for our country in whatever ways they could.”

“We didn’t know,” Mama added. “She didn’t tell us. Peter told us after she died.”

“Oh, Papa!” Annemarie cried. “Mama!”

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Mrs. Johansen/Mama (speaker), Mr. Johansen/Papa (speaker), Peter Neilsen, Lise Johansen
Page Number: 129-130
Explanation and Analysis:

[Annemarie] turned and went to her bedroom, where the blue trunk still stood in the corner, as it had all these years. Opening it, Annemarie saw that the yellow dress had begun to fade; it was discolored at the edges where it had lain so long in folds.

Carefully she spread open the skirt of the dress and found the place where Ellen’s necklace lay hidden in the pocket. The little Star of David still gleamed gold.

“Papa?” she said, returning to the balcony, where her father was standing with the others, watching the rejoicing crowd. She opened her hand and showed him the necklace. “Can you fix this? I have kept it all this long time. It was Ellen’s.”

Her father took it from her and examined the broken clasp. “Yes,” he said. “I can fix it. When the Rosens come home, you can give it back to Ellen.”

“Until then,” Annemarie told him, “I will wear it myself.”

Related Characters: Annemarie Johansen (speaker), Mr. Johansen/Papa (speaker), Ellen Rosen, Lise Johansen
Related Symbols: Ellen’s Necklace
Page Number: 131-132
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Number the Stars LitChart as a printable PDF.
Number the Stars PDF

Annemarie Johansen Character Timeline in Number the Stars

The timeline below shows where the character Annemarie Johansen appears in Number the Stars. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: Why Are You Running?
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen wants to race her best friend Ellen Rosen home from school through the streets... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
As Annemarie and Ellen arrive at the corner, they run smack into two German soldiers who are... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
Annemarie, Ellen, and Kirsti arrive back at the apartment building where they all live. Ellen tells... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Ellen and Annemarie agree not to tell their mothers about the incident, for fear of upsetting them. Ellen... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Hearing Kirsti’s story, Mrs. Rosen becomes frightened, and asks where Ellen is—Annemarie assures her that Ellen is safe downstairs. As Kirsti continues talking about the encounter, Mama... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Mrs. Rosen heads downstairs to talk to Ellen, urging Annemarie to walk to school a “different way” tomorrow—she says it’s important for the German soldiers... (full context)
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Annemarie asks if there’s anything to eat for a snack, and Mama tells her there’s some... (full context)
Chapter 2: Who is the Man Who Rides Past?
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
That night, in the bed they share, Kirsti begs Annemarie to tell her a story. Stories, and fairy tales especially, are important to the Danes—the... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Sometimes, when Annemarie was little, she and her older sister Lise would go out to see King Christian... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
When the occupation first began many years ago, Annemarie struggled to understand why King Christian didn’t put up a fight against the Nazis and... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Annemarie turns her thoughts away from war and back to Lise, though it is painful to... (full context)
Chapter 3: Where Is Mrs. Hirsch?
Bravery Theme Icon
As the month of September passes by, Annemarie, Ellen, and Kirsti are careful to take the long way to school and back, avoiding... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
...school, Mama notices that a button on one of Kirsti’s sweater has broken. She tells Annemarie to stop by the button shop around the corner after school—the shop is run by... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
That night, Annemarie is nearly asleep when her mother knocks on the bedroom door and pulls her out... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Papa, growing serious, tells Annemarie that the Germans have begun to issue orders closing any Copenhagen stores owned by Jews.... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Annemarie grows nervous—she points out that the Rosens are Jewish, too. Mama and Papa nod solemnly... (full context)
Chapter 4: It Will Be a Long Night
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Annemarie and Ellen sit on the floor of the Johansen apartment, playing with paper dolls. They... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
...to Copenhagen’s own Tivoli gardens, where the girls take their dolls for a “party.” As Annemarie and Ellen reminisce about the fireworks they saw in Tivoli Gardens as children, Kirsti jumps... (full context)
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Now feeling sad, Annemarie says she doesn’t want to play anymore. Ellen says it’s okay—she has to go home... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
...and speaks hushed and hurriedly with Mama. Mama comes back into the apartment and tells Annemarie and Kirsti that Ellen is going to come stay with them for a few days.... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
...dinner, the meal is a quiet and anxious one. Ellen looks frightened, and even though Annemarie’s Mama and Papa try to lighten the mood, Annemarie can tell that they, too, are... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Annemarie’s parents tell her that Ellen’s parents have gone to hide with other friends, because to... (full context)
Chapter 5: Who is the Dark-Haired One?
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Annemarie and Ellen get ready for bed, and, as they do, Ellen expresses how nervous she... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
As the girls brush their hair, Ellen asks Annemarie how Lise died—she says that though she remembers the funeral, she never knew what happened... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
...girls fall asleep. Hours later, a pounding on the door shakes them from their sleep. Annemarie opens the door to see what’s happening while the terrified Ellen remains in bed. Out... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Annemarie quietly shuts the bedroom door and flies back to the bed, urging Ellen to take... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
In the living room the Nazis demand to know the girls’ names. Annemarie gives them her own name, while Ellen tells them her name is Lise Johansen. Mama,... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
...officer tears the pictures into pieces and leaves the apartment, taking his cronies with him. Annemarie relaxes her right hand—she has been clutching Ellen’s necklace inside it the whole time. As... (full context)
Chapter 6: Is the Weather Good for Fishing?
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
...that the soldiers are now suspicious of their family. As the sky begins to lighten, Annemarie worries aloud about how tired she and Ellen will be in school after a sleepless... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
While Papa goes to the phone to call Uncle Henrik, Annemarie explains to Ellen that her uncle is a fisherman who lives out at the coast.... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Annemarie, Ellen, Kirsti, and Mama make their way by train north along the Danish coast. The... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
...they feel relieved to be away from the soldiers—but still anxious. Mama, Ellen, Kirsti, and Annemarie begin the walk to Uncle Henrik’s house, and Mrs. Johansen remarks on how the neighborhood... (full context)
Chapter 7: The House by the Sea
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
As Ellen, Annemarie, and Mama approach Uncle Henrik’s house, Ellen is stunned by how beautiful the farmhouse and... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
After dinner that evening, Ellen and Annemarie head up to the bedroom they’re sharing—the same bedroom that once belonged to Mama when... (full context)
Chapter 8: There Has Been a Death
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Annemarie sleeps fitfully and wakes briefly at dawn when Uncle Henrik leaves the house at daybreak... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Annemarie, Ellen, and Kirsti play outside together all day long. They spend time petting the cow,... (full context)
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
As Mama and Uncle Henrik begin discussing “preparations” for something, Annemarie grows curious about what’s happening. Henrik turns to Annemarie, Kirsti, and Ellen and tells him... (full context)
Chapter 9: Why Are You Lying?
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
After supper, Annemarie goes out to the meadow alone. She visits Uncle Henrik in the barn, where he... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Uncle Henrik asks Annemarie if she understands what he’s saying, but Annemarie isn’t sure that she does. At the... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Uncle Henrik reveals that there is no Great-aunt Brite—he and Mama have lied to Annemarie, Kirsti, and Ellen to “help [them] to be brave.” He tells Annemarie that for this... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
...it in the middle of the living room. Kirsti is asleep upstairs, but Ellen and Annemarie sit up in the living room with Mama and Uncle Henrik. Ellen doesn’t know the... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
...urges Ellen to follow Henrik’s lead. The two go out into the dark, and soon Annemarie can hear the sound of voices on the lawn. After a moment, Henrik returns—with Peter... (full context)
Chapter 10: Let Us Open the Casket
Bravery Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
...to his house—the rendezvous point—leaves to go out to the boat and get things ready. Annemarie looks around the room. Though so many people have been reunited, the atmosphere is still... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
Mama comes over to Annemarie and points out how late it is. Though Annemarie is tired, she doesn’t want to... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
...before the funeral. The officers ask the room who died, but no one answers. Only Annemarie speaks up, explaining that her Great-aunt Birte has passed away. One of the officers says... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Annemarie feels a panic come over her, but Mama quickly answers that Great-aunt Birte died of... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
Annemarie runs to Mama and embraces her, while Peter calms everyone down by reading a psalm... (full context)
Chapter 11: Will We See You Again Soon, Peter?
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Annemarie and Ellen peer inside the casket together—there is no one in it, and instead it... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
...look. Though he doesn’t seem to know what it contains, he doesn’t ask about it. Annemarie realizes that the members of their group are “protect[ing] one another by not telling” each... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
...passed so that there is less of a chance they’ll all be seen. Peter tells Annemarie that he won’t see her again tonight—after he drops his group at the boat, he... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Annemarie has intuited what is going to happen to Mr. Rosen and Mrs. Rosen, though no... (full context)
Chapter 12: Where Was Mama?
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
...paths well. As the Rosens follow Mama out into the yard, Ellen pauses. She hugs Annemarie and promises to come back some day. The girls have a hard time letting one... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
Alone in the empty living room, Annemarie visualizes the path her mother and the Rosens are taking and “walk[s it] with them... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
Annemarie wakes up at the first light of dawn, not having even realized she’d fallen asleep.... (full context)
Chapter 13: Run! As Fast As You Can!
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Annemarie dashes out of the house and runs through the meadow to the edge of the... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
At the steps leading up to the house, Annemarie spots something in the grass. She bends to pick it up—it is the packet Peter... (full context)
Chapter 14: On the Dark Path
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
As Annemarie walks through the woods with the basket over her arm, she shivers in the gray,... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
As Annemarie gets deeper and deeper into the woods, she keeps hearing noises, and thinks of how,... (full context)
Chapter 15: My Dogs Smell Meat!
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Annemarie remembers her mother’s advice to act like a “silly little girl” should she run into... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Annemarie notices that the soldiers’ dogs are looking at her basket and growling with hunger. She... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
The soldiers continue rifling through Annemarie’s basket, laughing at the brown spots on the apple and the meager piece of cheese.... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
The soldier, seeing the paper packet at the bottom, asks Annemarie what it is. She insists she doesn’t know, and even scolds the soldier for making... (full context)
Bravery Theme Icon
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Annemarie collects the apple and the handkerchief, the only things left intact, and puts them back... (full context)
Chapter 16: I Will Tell You Just a Little
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
That night at dinner, Annemarie, Mama, and Uncle Henrik laugh as Mama tells Henrik all about Annemarie’s attempts at milking... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
After dinner, Uncle Henrik takes Annemarie out to the barn to show her how to milk Blossom properly, but as the... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Annemarie is horrified that soldiers searched the boats, but Uncle Henrik tells her that there is... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
...them from finding the hidden Jews on Resistance boats bound for Sweden. Uncle Henrik tells Annemarie that the soldiers who searched his boat earlier had dogs—if Annemarie hadn’t rushed the packet... (full context)
Chapter 17: All This Long Time
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Two long years later, Annemarie is twelve, and the war has indeed come to an end. As the news spreads... (full context)
Reality vs. Fantasy Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Annemarie has, in the last two years, learned the truth about her sister Lise’s death. Papa... (full context)
Privilege, Sacrifice, and Solidarity  Theme Icon
Bravery Theme Icon
Sisterhood Theme Icon
Annemarie leaves the balcony and goes into her room, where she opens Lise’s special blue trunk.... (full context)