THE LIONS' RUN

THE LIONS' RUN by Sara Pennypacker

There have been a plethora of World War II books written over the past few years. Some have repeated events, but others have brought a fresh take with new views and material not often known. That is the case with The Lions' Run. With that being said, it is important to read this review, because there is subject matter covered in the book that may or may not be something that you are comfortable with your middle grader reading.

Lucas Dubois is a 13-year-old orphan living in occupied France in 1944. The Germans have occupied France for almost four years at this point.. France has had a price to pay for this occupation including food shortages. This is where The Lions' Run opens.

The cat that lives at the abbey with the orphans has recently had kittens, and Sister Marie-Agnes declares that there are already too many mouths to feed. The kittens must be drowned. Two boys known for their bullying, put the kittens in a bag and throw them into the canal. Lucas sees this happen, and even though considered a weakling by the bullies, he interjects himself to save them. This is his first real act of courage, and he successfully rescues all but one. He now must hide the kittens and care for them. This leads him to what he thinks is an abandoned barn. When he goes to put the kittens in their new home, he finds out that a girl is hiding her beloved horse there to protect it from being confiscated by the Germans. A friendship strikes up between the two that brings a welcome dynamic to the ongoing strife.

The most difficult issue in the book is revealed through Lucas's job delivering groceries. One of the places he delivers to is called Lebensborn. It's a home for unmarried French women who are pregnant with babies from German soldiers. The babies are created purposefully. The goal is to expand the Aryan race,. The pregnant women live extravagantly compared to the surrounding people, the babies are born at the home, and after a few weeks the babies are sent to Germany to be raised by "good German families." The book doesn't deal with the topic of sex. Pennypacker gets around this by a having a conversation occur between a French woman staying at the home and Lucas. With the war raging, several French men are gone, and the women find the German soldiers "handsome" not to mention the perks of living in the home for over 9 months. The book really picks up speed when Lucas decides to rescue one of the babies and return it to its mother. I don't think we have to use our imaginations much to realize that the Germans aren't about to allow this to happen. What follows is a life and death attempt at escape with lots of twists and turns.

This is a story that demonstrates a tremendous amount of courage and also self-sacrifice, but due to the content, I would recommend it for 7th-9th grade.

HEADS UP - Overall, the story is very engaging. Other than the above mentioned subject matter, the only other issue to be aware of is the usage of g** a handful of times.