Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II by Lia Levi

 

Yesterday, I finished reading Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II by Lia Levi. This illustrated memoir, which was translated from Italian into English, is about a Jewish girl who grew up in Italy during World War II. As a six-year-old in 1938, Lia loved going to the beach for vacation in the summer, but when the prime minister, Mussolini, begins working with Hitler, her dad loses his job and her family moves from city to city before settling in Rome. As the war comes dangerously closer,  Lia and her sisters are sent to live in a convent on the edge of Rome where they use a false last name and go to boarding school. As she and her family face discrimination and the challenges of living in a country at war, Lia wonders if she will be able to just be a girl again.

This book was wonderful to read because I saw a different perspective from World War II than I've gotten in other books I've read. It was interesting to learn how the challenges Italian Jews faced were both similar and different from those in other parts of Europe. Although it was still dangerous in Rome, Lia, her sisters, and eventually her mother were able to find sanctuary in a convent among nuns. It was initially believed that being so close to the pope offered the Jews living in Rome some protection because the pope would do something if he saw the atrocities with his own eyes. I hadn't known that. Although the Germans did eventually come to Rome to take Jews from the Jewish quarter, it took a while and Lia's parents were fortunate that they got a warning in time so they were able to escape and hide. I also really enjoyed Lia's voice in telling the story of her childhood. Although she faced challenges, I could imagine how these things were happening through the eyes of a child. There was innocence and hope. The illustrations throughout the book and the letter Lia wrote at the end were beautiful, and I also loved seeing photographs of her and her family. I would recommend Just a Girl to anyone who enjoys reading about the experiences of children during wartime.