Review: The Center of the Earth
The Center of the Earth
by Darlene P. Campos
Blue Handle Publishing, 2025
Category: Young Adult
Reviewer: Merle Eisman Carrus
Buy at Bookshop.org
The plot for The Center of the Earth is based on real life accounts by Holocaust survivors. Their experiences are embedded in the characters in this novel.
Meet Dahlia Aviles, twelve years old, a courageous and compassionate young lady, who has moved to Berlin with her parents. Originally from Ecuador, Herr Aviles is a diplomat who is working on assignment in Germany. The year is 1938. Living next door is Rabbi and Frau Rubenstein and their nephew Werner, and the families become friends.
As the pressure on Jews increases, Werner’s father and Herr Aviles discuss the future. When the Aviles are recalled to Ecuador, they have a plan in place to bring Werner with them. They draw up false papers and bring him home with them. They concoct a plausible story about Werner being an orphan and Frau Aviles being his nanny, bringing him home with her.
Werner lives between two worlds, the Catholic world of school and home with the Aviles, and the Jewish refugee world of the small community of German Jews who have escaped the Holocaust. He is living a nice life, but he worries about and misses his father and family everyday. He feels guilty that he has everything he wants and plenty of food while the stories coming from Germany are horrific.
Werner becomes a Bar Mitzvah, learns the craft of woodworking and starts shaving. The years go by and the war ends. Werner and Dahlia are finding that friendship can sometimes grow into love. They are working through the growing pains of youth and differences of culture, as they figure out their feelings for each other.
This is a heartwarming story of strength, conviction, devotion, and love. It is the story of what it means to be a family. The reader also learns the very interesting history of Ecuador and their response to World War II.
The plot for The Center of the Earth is based on real life accounts by Holocaust survivors. Their experiences are embedded in the characters in this novel.
Meet Dahlia Aviles, twelve years old, a courageous and compassionate young lady, who has moved to Berlin with her parents. Originally from Ecuador, Herr Aviles is a diplomat who is working on assignment in Germany. The year is 1938. Living next door is Rabbi and Frau Rubenstein and their nephew Werner, and the families become friends.
As the pressure on Jews increases, Werner’s father and Herr Aviles discuss the future. When the Aviles are recalled to Ecuador, they have a plan in place to bring Werner with them. They draw up false papers and bring him home with them. They concoct a plausible story about Werner being an orphan and Frau Aviles being his nanny, bringing him home with her.
Werner lives between two worlds, the Catholic world of school and home with the Aviles, and the Jewish refugee world of the small community of German Jews who have escaped the Holocaust. He is living a nice life, but he worries about and misses his father and family everyday. He feels guilty that he has everything he wants and plenty of food while the stories coming from Germany are horrific.
Werner becomes a Bar Mitzvah, learns the craft of woodworking and starts shaving. The years go by and the war ends. Werner and Dahlia are finding that friendship can sometimes grow into love. They are working through the growing pains of youth and differences of culture, as they figure out their feelings for each other.
This is a heartwarming story of strength, conviction, devotion, and love. It is the story of what it means to be a family. The reader also learns the very interesting history of Ecuador and their response to World War II.
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Reviewer Merle Eisman Carrus resides in New Hampshire and writes book reviews for the NH Jewish Reporter newspaper. and other publications. She is a graduate of Emerson College and received her Masters of Jewish Studies from Hebrew College. She leads books discussion groups and author interviews. She blogs her book reviews at biteofthebookworm.blogspot.com.
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