At long last, the extraordinary and long forgotten story of Irena Sendler—who took staggering risks to save 2,500 children from death and deportation in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II—now adapted for a younger audience.

Irena Sendler was a young Polish woman living in Warsaw during World War II. With guts of steel, Irena crossed the walled Jewish ghetto with babies in toolboxes and coffins, snuck them under overcoats at checkpoints, and slipped them through the dank sewers. Then she convinced her friends and underground resistance network to hide them.

In this heroic tale of survival and selflessness, Tilar Mazzeo and adapter Mary Cronk Farrell share the true story of this bold and brave woman, who risked her life to save innocent children from the horrors of the Holocaust. 

You might wonder how different my adapted version of the story will be from Tilar Mazzeo's original manuscript. Tilar is a professor of English at Colby College and has done outstanding research in order to craft this story.

She has 384 footnotes to prove it! The original book written for adults will fascinate academic readers and others wanting detailed information on the topic. I haven't heard yet when Tiler's book will be available.

The Young Readers Edition skirts the most gruesome details of the Nazis' annihilation of Warsaw's Jews, though I would still urge parental discretion when putting the book into young people's hands. The adaptation doesn't simplify Irena's story, but rather distills the narrative.

Have you ever wondered what you can do to help your favorite author? Here's a tip: pre-order their book.  Publishers often make decisions about how many books to print and how much money to spend promoting the title, by how much early interest they see in the book. Pro-orders are solid evidence of interest.