Okay, 'spare' I'll grant, but there's virtually no imagery at all, and has all the lyricism of an owner's manual. Lois Lowry even provides a cover quote, claiming that this book is 'told with spare lyricism and haunting imagery.' But it's just not. I had high hopes for this-a holocaust book that isn't focused on the Jews, but rather on the disabled, an under-represented viewpoint. It's a fairly quick read at around 108 pages. I especially enjoyed the author's notes in the back as she explains where the names for the characters originated, info for further learning, and statistics.

There were many others that were killed and this book exposes the terror of this dark time. I think it's really important for older kids to read this so that they will learn that the Holocaust didn't just involve killing Jews. It's meant to sound as though the person is speaking to you and that's exactly what the format delivers.

The book is told in free verse which isn't meant to rhyme or have any specific rhythm. I noticed that some people were leaving negative reviews because they didn't feel the book was poetic enough. The story continues on with her journey in search of safety. Due to the T4 program during WWII, she has no choice but to leave her home and family to hide at the age of 13. The story follows a little deaf girl named Paula Becker who lives with her family in Germany. Suddenly, teaching her and freeing her from the prison of her isolation, takes on much greatermeaning, and peril.Riveting and complex, delicately nuanced and fervently feminist, Set Me Free is a masterful stand-alone companion to Show Mea Sign, and a searing exposé of ableism, racism, and colonialism that will challenge you to think differently about the dignity andcapacity within every human being.To see this review and to learn more about T4 please visit T4 by Ann Claremont Lezotte is a book about Hitler's Tiergartenstrasse 4 or better known as T4, a Nazi program that ordered the death of all disabled and mentally ill people. But can a child of eight with no prior language be taught? And is Mary up to the task? With newfoundpurpose, Mary arrives only to discover that there is much more to the girl's story-and the circumstances of her confinement-thanshe ever could have imagined. Three years after being kidnapped as a 'live specimen' in a cruel experiment to determine the cause of her deafness, MaryLambert has grown weary of domestic life on Martha's Vineyard, and even of her once beloved writing.So when an old acquaintance summons her to an isolated manor house outside Boston to teach a young deaf girl tocommunicate, Mary agrees. A riveting standalone companion to the Schneider Family Book Award winner, Show Me a Sign by Deaf author and librarian, AnnClare LeZotte.

Ann clare lezotte