As a young reader, I devoured and reread books like The Devil's Arithmetic and Number the Stars. This would have sat on my shelf right alongside those tales of youthful heroism in the face of fascist displays of pathetic ideas of strength.

This story tells of Muslims in Paris during World War II who worked together to help Jewish residents escape persecution by those who couldn't handle their own insecurities. Safiyyah is a young girl whose family and community is buffeted by the German army as it invades Paris. Her friends are increasingly targeted by the Nazi invaders and she finds herself in a position to do something about it. So she does.

A much-needed addition to the stories of heroism during the Holocaust, not least because it reminds the reader that heroism isn't always Christian or white. I am increasingly wary of Holocaust stories in the sense that I think too many readers wrongly believe that they would behave heroically in a similar situation. This story, though, is a standout.