1st Quarter Book Report

World History Quarter Book Project

Title of Book: Sarah’s Key

Genre of Literature (historical fiction or non-fiction): Historical fiction and some non-fiction

Author: Tatiana De Rosnay 

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin, New York 

Copyright Date: 2007

Number of pages (150-page minimum): 293

Setting(s): The Vélodrome d’Hiver roundup in Paris (July 6th, 1942), Paris (May 2002)

Main Characters 

Sarah Starzynski: Sarah is a Parisian Jew that suffered the cruelty of the Vélodrome d’Hiver roundup. She was sent to a concentration camp, but locked her baby brother in a hidden cabinet in her house in hopes of protecting him. She is a resilient, strong, and resourceful girl.

Julia Tézac: Julia lives in “present day” Paris with her daughter and husband. She works at an American/Parisian news company and is tasked with writing about the Vélodrome d’Hiver roundup. During her research she finds out a family secret that would change her life. Julia is very smart, compassionate, and passionate woman.

Edouard Tézac: Edouard is Julia’s Parisian father-in-law. He is depicted as cold, reserved, and somewhat impersonal. In the novel, he reveals a secret from his past that shocks everyone.

Summary – Sarah’s Key tells the tale of two women; one in present day, and one in the midst of suffering during World War 2. Julia Tézac is tasked with writing about the Vélodrome d’Hiver roundup. Along the way, she uncovers a secret by the name of Sarah Starzynski. The discovery of Sarah’s connection with her in-law’s creates havoc and tension within her perfect little life in Paris. While she deals with this new chapter in her life, she discovers something about herself that sends her husband over the edge. Julia learns how to deal with the sad ending to Sarah’s story as well as figuring out what she wants in her life.

POV – The book is mainly told from Julia’s point of view, but the first half of the book switches between Sarah and Julia’s points of view. The difference in points of view really helps the reader understand the pain that Sarah went through as well as the pain that Julia went through as she discovered things about the past and how she deals with personal affairs.

Important Event – I personally think the most important moment in this book is when Julia learns that, after what many depicted as a happy life, Sarah purposely killed herself in a car accident. It shows how hard it was for Sarah to live each day remembering all the dark things she went through and it is a pivotal moment that shows that horrible situations can really harm someone’s mind. (262).

Character Connection – Zoë Tézac: Zoë is Julias teenage daughter. She encourages her mom to keep going along with her research on Sarah’s life, even when it proves to be difficult. She is a very supportive, energetic, positive, and humorous character. 

Quotes

• “There’s something else I want to tell you…I don’t care what some of you think. I don’t care if you think Mom was wrong, if you think Mom did something stupid. I’m really proud of what she did” (267). This quote shows that Zoë is willing to stand up and support her mother when the rest of her family thinks that Julia shouldn’t have gotten involved with Sarah’s story.
• “Mom, I’ll never fit in, now they call me Frenchy” (275). This quote shows the slight humorous side that Zoë possesses. Her words pop up in the middle of Julia talking about leaving Paris and moving to America because she didn’t want to be reminded of certain things. I like how the author added this realistic bit of humor in a slight spot of heavy emotions from Julia.

I think Zoë is kind of like me. We are both driven with strong emotions whenever friends or family are involved, and we love to support those we love. I also get told that I am very energetic and positive which is something that we both share. Zoë is rather funny, and I personally think that I am funny at times as well.

Lessons Learned Quotes

• “Sometimes, Miss Jarmond, it’s not easy to bring back the past. There are unpleasant surprises. The truth is harder than ignorance” (124). This quote tells all; sometimes when you uncover the past, you discover dark secrets. We don’t know what people when through in the past. During World War 2, many people went through hell and back, and the concept that someone can go through so much can sometimes be hard for us to understand. Personally, I still don’t understand why people could do something so awful to a large group of people, but I can’t understand what the Jews went through because it’s such a barbaric reality.
• “[But] She did not bow her head in shame. She stood straight, her chin high. She wiped away the tears” (58). I think everyone can learn something from this quote. This quote comes from Sarah’s point of view at the beginning of the book. Sarah is in a train car surrounded by filthy, sick, and dying people; she doesn’t let her guard down. Sarah is driven to save her brother and nothing will get in her way. This quote is a good reminder that we need to be strong in tough situations, as a strong will can help you overcome tough issues.

Historical Importance- For starters, if Hitler had won World War 2, Jews wouldn’t exist anymore. His plan with world domination and creating a “master race” would be completed. No one would have freedom of religion, and those who were anything but white wouldn’t be here today.

Another thing that would be different is if the people included in the Vélodrome d’Hiver roundup would’ve escaped their captivity. We would have more survivors from the sick time period in history and they would’ve been able to tell their stories.

Life Lessons – Even though Sarah didn’t make it to her brother in time to save him, she still did her best to get to him. I can personally use this as a reminder to persevere even when the world is against me. The effort is worth so much in the end.

Another thing that I learned is to look to the past and learn from it. What happened that day in World War 2 is something that should never happen ever again. It’s a good reminder to be fair to others and to create a positive environment where people are loved and accepted no matter what.

I also learned that horrible situations change people, and you might not even know it. Sarah was struggling with the guilt that she didn’t get to her brother in time for so long and no one even knew. There are people in my class that have probably gone through things that I wouldn’t understand, so it’s a good reminder that I need to be kinder to others because I might not know what is happening outside of school.

Renamed Book – I would rename this book to be “The Secrets of Paris”. Throughout we learn a lot from the past and present. Julia uncovers the secret of Sarah, as well as her own discovery that she keeps hidden for a while. The book dives into Sarah’s secret, that she is actually very depressed and killed herself. We learn that Julia’s husband had an affair on her and that Julia is pregnant with her husband’s child. Julia’s husband reveals that he is depressed and is in the middle of a midlife crisis. Many new developments surface in this tale.

I would highly recommend this book. It has a lot of aspects that I think would appeal to many of my peers. For one, there is Romance, Action, Mystery, and even some Thriller genres in the book. Also, this story is something that needs to be shared. The way that the author describes Sarah’s story is utterly morbid but very eye-opening. We can learn much from this book.