Resist by Alan Gratz

From Goodreads,

"An exclusive, action-packed story about one girl's daring rescue mission during World War II.

Can Samira survive the dangers of D-Day and find her mother in time?"

Goodreads - Resist

I posted my review of Allies last week, which told the story of D-Day.  One of the characters in the book was named Samira.  Her piece of the story was very short and straightforward, and unfortunately, I felt it was incomplete.  Scholastic partnered with Alan Gratz to publish and release the special edition story of Samira.  I am so glad that I was able to get the entire 5th-grade class as well as myself a copy to read because it really concluded Samira's story for me.

Samira's story really starts in the book Allies.  Samira's mother is part of the French Resistance.  The morning of D-Day Samira's mother is taken by Nazi's after she is caught trying to help a family escape through a window.  Resist picks up with Samira trying to hide from the Nazis and find her mother at the same time.  It is a short story that flies by with brief chapters full of history.

After reading Allies I felt that Samira and James did not get their complete story told.  Luckily Samira's story is told in this book.  I hate that it wasn't included in the original story, but I'm also really glad that this was written so that her story would come full circle and be complete.  I felt that this book really showed more of the dark side of the Nazis that in Allies.  Allies is completely told from the perspective of those with the Allies.  There is very minimal interaction with the Nazis.  Resist however takes us to the middle of the woods where Nazis force people from the town of Bayeux to dig their own graves.  I think this really put it in perspective the mindset that they had.  I also liked the innocence that a child had when he asked why they were having to dig.  He was a child caught in the middle of a war and he didn't understand that he was digging his own grave.  That was the purest form of innocence.  Gratz really did a great job of telling the rest of Samira's story.  My only complaint is that I wish it had just been included in Allies. 

This is an absolute companion story to Allies.  I do think you need to read Allies before reading Resist.  I give this 3 stars.  I really wish that this entire thing had been in the original story instead of being a side story.