If I Should Die Before I Wake

A Trip Back into a Bloodcurdling Time

If I Should Die Before I Wake by Han Nolan, is a thriving novel about a teenage girl in a Neo-Nazi gang and her experiences she has as a little girl in Poland during the holocaust while she is in coma. In her gang, ¿the Great Warriors¿, Hilary absolutely hates all Jews and believes that her boyfriend and the gang are the only people who truly understand her. When Hilary becomes Chana and goes through all her experiences, she realizes that other people truly care about her. By the end of the novel, Hilary learns who she really is as a person and she learns to accept others. Once the accident occurs and Hilary is in coma, she must overcome her hatred of Jews and must learn to see who people are on the inside 'and not judge them based on their looks or ethnicity'. When she is Hilary, her life is devoted to the gang and all her actions are overlooked and controlled by ¿the Great Warriors¿. Her mother and father play no role in her life simply because she feels they don¿t care or understand her. When Hilary becomes Chana, a poor Jewish girl, her entire outlook on life changes and Chana and Hilary both learn that in order to get by in life and survive difficult situations, you have to know and understand who you are and be devoted to your family. From the death of Chana¿s father to a fire set by Hilary¿s boyfriend these events are what trigger Chana and Hilary to realize they can no longer keep on living the way they are used to and they must do what is right for themselves. In the beginning Hilary never believed her mother ever thought about her let alone she would stay with her in the hospital. This is what helps Hilary understand that her family does care and when her boyfriend visits and sets the Jewish hospital on fire leaving Hilary to die, that makes her realize she is above the gang and she has her own voice to finally stand up for what she believes in. Her life as Chana is evidence to Hilary that these horrific events were a reality and one must stay true to oneself in order to survive and not lose hope. The Jews lives to Hilary are worthless. She believes just because they are Jewish, that ethnicity is automatically below her in social status and she has the right to do or say whatever she feels about them. Through the duration of the book, while Hilary is Chana, she comes to understand the meaning of family, not to judge others based on their ¿racial look¿ or ethnicity, and she learns the value of friendship as well. Along with finding herself, Hilary is able to see what her life really has been about, and she now knows that how she has been treating Jews is morally wrong. If anyone is looking for a novel that goes back in time through the Holocaust and truly shows the horrors of what happened, I would strongly recommend reading this book. As you read the novel you truly feel as though you are the characters and are going through the same trauma and experiences as they are. This book is hard to put down and if anyone is interested in learning more about the Holocaust, or even about learning to accept yourself and others, this book should be right up your alley.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Moving Story

If I Should Die Before I Wake is a great story! The book is very real and really gives you a feel for how it was like to be a Jew during WWII. The story really teaches you alot and you get an amazing grasp on the German concentration campsand how terrible they were. In the story you realize how much strength and determination it took to stay alive during these times.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

:)

This was the best book i've read in a long time. Although it can be often very sad and gruesome, it was powerful and draws you in from the beginning.
Also, I don't think it skips around too much, it was smooth to me.
The best thing about it is how the main character, Chana, grows so much over the course of the war, and finally finds peace with God.
Who knows, maybe this book will make you believe in God.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A very inspiring, & incredible read.

"If I Should Die Before I Wake" is about a teenage girl named Hilary who is part of a neo-Nazi gang in her school & completely hates Jews. When she gets into a motorcycle accident, she ends up in a Jewish hospital, & while sleeping & unconscious, she wakes up in the place of a teenage Jewish girl named Chana in the time of World War 2, who has lost her family & has been sent to Auschwitz for horrible slave labor. When Hilary wakes up, her views on Jewish people change, which changes herself from being a rude person to a good & generous person who has seen the world in an entirely different way. This book made me wonder, when the Holocaust was happening, if any of the Nazis (or even Hitler) got into an accident, became unconscious, & woke up in the place of a Jewish person & suffered the same horrible losses & unfair slave labor as they did, would their views on the entire situation change? Would Hitler himself call off the Holocaust, if he went through the same thing as Hilary? Or would they go on as unfeeling monsters, simply continuing to ruin the innocent Jewish peoples' lives? The same situation applies to today's society. Like how no one truly knows how it feels to be homeless. Or even at school, where you're the "ugly & unpopular" one, & everyone continues to make fun of you, completely ignorant of your feelings. If the same thing happened to us as it happened to Hilary, perhaps it would be good for all of us. If a rich & greedy person woke up in the place of a homeless person, or if a popular & rude person woke up in the place of an unpopular person. This book really spoke to me as a human being, & that was how it did so. It has inspired me to look at a situation in another person's eyes, & understand the way others feel, instead of being selfish & only thinking of my point of view. Because unlike Hilary, we won't be able to wake up in another person's shoes to be able to see the world in a way we should. So if you are looking for a fictional book that takes place in a period that's more than real, or if you want a book that inspires you like it inspired me, "If I Should Die Before I Wake" is an amazing book for both of those types, & it is also just a really great read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

if i should die before i wake

this was a very good book. i am highly interested in the holocaust and how things really happened. this book not only gave me a lok on how things really happened, but an interesting twist on what happened.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

this book is CRAZY.

but you'll definitely like it because it just makes you wanna keep reading more and more. i love how the author wrote the book, with hilary & chana showing both sides of their story. it's a really good read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Such a good book!

This book is amazing. The book is hard to follow at first but it is a very deeply moving book. The purchase was very well worth it.

An Intriguing Tale

Hilary is part of a neo-Nazi gang in her town and hates Jews with a passion. However, one day she is seriously injured while riding on the back of a motorcycle driven by one of her fellow gang member. She is taken to a Jewish hospital and finds herself living a different life. Hilary has become Chana, a Jewish girl fighting for her life in the Holocaust. Chana and her family are taken from their home to a ghetto, and the people who survived the ghetto were sent to Auschwitz. This book tells the gripping story of how Chana-or Hilary- attempts to survive in a world of death.
I absolutely loved this book! There was never a dull moment and it was a fast read. I have always found Holocaust books interesting and this one surely did not disappoint. It is hard to believe all the horrible situation that the main character is put through, but I love how the book shows what a difference a strong will in a person can make. I was also able to make several connections with Chana as she went through everything. It is very easy to believe that this book is really being told by a teenage girl. Since this book is an easy read, I would recommend it to preteen girls and girls in their early teenage years. However, it is a very interesting quick read for any teenage girl.

...ok

This book was ok it had you really into hillary's story but then switched to Chana's leaving you hanging.Then your into Chana's story but it goes back to Hilary's.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Great Read

This book is excellent.From the first page it automatically drew me in. The change of the main characters back and forth was very interesting.If you are interested in the Holocaust like me, you will enjoy it very much because of the details and the characters in the story.Hilary is an aggressive individual that learns about the people of the Holocaust's life.Chana is a Jewish girl that was captured during the Holocaust.The events in this novel are very well written and will satisfy a reader.The only flaw I would say about this book is that towards the middle of the book, the story seems to drag a bit but don't worry because shortly it picks itself back up.I would definately recommend this book to adults and young adults.

Disappointing

I found it skipped around and was difficult to follow. No smooth transition in thought. Not believeable either, even for young adults.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good Until the End

The book had many facts on the war and some with Neo-Nazism. I was hooked and really enjoyed reading it. It was pretty moving and emotional reading the parts where she slipped from and into a coma. However, the ending was terrible and unexpected. It was the only part of the book that could never happen and it kind of ruined a but for me because the rest of the book was quite factual until it closed then it kind of took away some facts and made it more into a kid book than a interesting, discussion book.

Creative!

Such a great story although the writing was sometime slightly confusing. Chana was such a likable character who you could really feel for. Definitely worth the read!

Amazing

When I first picked this book up I wasn't able to put it down. It grabbed my attention right away and kept it. It was emotional and something you can learn from. It makes you look at yourself and the way you do things and treat others. I could read this book over and over, it would still be just as good and unforgettable.

The Best Book

I really loved this book. Not only did Hilary learn a lesson but I did too. I learned you shouldn't take what you have for granted because ten to one someone doesn't have what you have.

LOVED IT!!!!

This book is uh-may-zun!!! i have actually recommended it to all of my friends, family and teachers!(my parents are teachers too!) My mom has absolutley fallen in love with the plot, characters, ect.!

Amay-za-zing

I just finished reading this book for the second time, and I still thought it was great! I first got in the Holocaust museum on my 8th grade trip to DC. It was really cool to learn so much about the Holcaust at one time. This book tied history and raw emotion and a little bit of faith into one great novel. It was interesting how Han Nolan mixed the fates of Chana and Hillary together. I believed to be historically accurate and gripping, but the reason I gave it only 4 stars was because when I think of my favorite books, this one doesn't make the list. Out of the three Holocaust books I read, this one was my favorite!

LOVED IT!!!!

this boom was amazing. thats the only way i could explain it. it gives a clear portrayal of what happend during the Holocaust. possibly the best book i have read about World War II

amazing book

After visiting the National Holocaust Museum in Washington DC I bought this book at the gift store. It look me about a week to read and it was amazing. You feel as if you were put in her place and going through everything the Jews did. It definitely gives you a whole other look on the Holocaust.

Good for adults and older teens

im twelve, and when i read this book i was blown away. how could anyone be so cruel? i think this book was very intense and gripping.