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Rating: 
Summary: Katarina
Review: "I'm sorry,Miss Lena. It's nothing personal, Katarina is a well-behaved little girl. But you know, my husband works for the government, we can't have a Jewish child coming to our home or skating on our property..." Katarina is a young girl living in Slovakia in 1942. Just because she is Jewish, Katarina is asked not to go play or skate at her best friend's house. This quote from the beginning of the book is an example of how Jewish people were treated at the start of World War II. They were asked to go away and were not trusted by Slovaks or Germans. Even though Katarina's family has never been very religious, she is considered Jewish by the government. Because of her religion, she is no longer safe. As the book goes on, Katarina is forced to live in one hiding place after another. She is scared, but has hope that one day everything will be back to normal again. This book is historical fiction. I think Katarina is worth reading and is good for discussion. I rate this book four out of five. I think girls will enjoy this book more than boys, and I recommend it for girls ages 10 to 15.
Rating: 
Summary: Katarina, By Kathryn Winter
Review: I am writing this for my 7th grade language arts project. Katarina is the story of a young girl who is living a lie. She lives with her aunt and uncle, in Slovakia in 1942, and she's Jewish. All of the Jews are getting evicted and sent to work camps. Katarina and her aunt and uncle have to escape to stay out of the camps. When it is safe for them to return again, they do. But then, Katarina's aunt and uncle claim to be leaving to find a house in a free country. They send Katarina off to live with some people, which they pay, while they are gone. Katarina and the people she is staying with become convinced that they are never coming back, after they have waited for several months with no pay, and Katarina is forced to leave. She wanders through peasant towns looking for a place to stay or get some food or money. Eventually, she wanders back into the town she came from, where everyone hates her because of her red hair and freckles. Katarina goes to the maid's, who used to work for her family, house. The maid, Anka, takes Katarina to a christian bording house, because her family does not want to keep her at their own house. None of the girls like Katarina and she leaves. She begins to wander towns again. Will her aunt and uncle ever come back? Katarina is a good story. It's kind of hard to understand what's going on. She starts to go crazy sort of, and it's hard to tell if she's speaking, or thinking. Overall, it is a good story line, it could have just been written a little more understandably.
Rating:
Summary: Rather dissappointing. . .
Review: I checked out this book from the library because I enjoy reading stories about people who lived through the dark days of WWII. But while the story itself had some good parts, the way that it was presented was rather dissapointing. The narrator (Katarina herself) keeps jumbling up the sequence of the story, jumping back and forth in time describing various events. Sometimes she just simply rambles on and on. The ending fell especially flat -- the reader is led to believe that Katarina has returned to her village, found her aunt and all is well -- but when you turn the page, you find out that Katarina was only dreaming and there was no one to welcome her in her village except for her old schoolteacher. The ending would have been a whole lot better without this "dream sequence". Sometimes this kind of ending works, but in this book, it failed miserably. The book also never tells you what happened to Katarina after the war ended. I don't think I would recommed this book for someone who wants to know about life during the Holocaust -- while the descriptions of Katarina's life as a Jewish refugee are excellent, this book is just a bit too difficult to follow. Even as an adult, I had trouble keeping up with it. I give it four stars.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book for readers young and old
Review: I read this book as a junior in high school, I was doing it for a project and found that it was one of the best books of all times. I found it easy to read and interesting, as I read it I could place myself in the book easiy and as Winter was telling the story in great detail, I could see the story just like a movie playing in my head. If you are looking for a book to read, definetly read this.
Rating:
Summary: Katarina
Review: This is a very good book. It is a sad story about a little Jewish girl in WWII. She runs into so many problems, it is a wonder she had the will to live at all. Kathryn Winter did a wonderful job writing this book and I definitely recommend this to everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: horribly written book
Review: This is a wonderfully masterful account of a young Jewish girl and her life growing up in Slovakia during World War II. I stayed up late waiting to find out where she would hide next and when Aunt Lena and Uncle Teo would come back to bring her home. Much of the story, Katarina is unaware why she is considered Jewish because her family has never observed the religion and she has been learning Catholic ways on the side. Aunt Lena is a wonderful mother figure that takes the place of Katarina's real mother and father when they die. Uncle Teo is Aunt Lena's husband and not quite used to children being around, but an effective provider for the family before he goes into hiding. There was one part of the story that may need to be read together with a fifth grade level child. While Katarina is staying at the peasant house of Mariska, she is witness to Mariska and a male friend named Kubo that make noises and touch each other in the storage room while Katarina is hiding out in there. This would probably warrant a discussion for any curious minds. Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the book is when she is in the orphanage being taken care of by the Protestant nuns and brother. It is certainly where Katarina feels the love of Sister Mara and Brother Martin. Brother Martin begins to share stories with Katarina about the war and it is obvious that he is on the side of the Partisans in Slovakia. After some exciting events at the orphanage the war finally comes to an end and Katarina heads back to her village to see if Aunt Lena and Uncle Teo are there waiting for her. This is a great book that I may include in a unit on World War II especially if studying the war from different countries and their perspectives.
Rating:
Summary: A Book to Stay Up Late For.
Review: This is a wonderfully masterful account of a young Jewish girl and her life growing up in Slovakia during World War II. I stayed up late waiting to find out where she would hide next and when Aunt Lena and Uncle Teo would come back to bring her home. Much of the story, Katarina is unaware why she is considered Jewish because her family has never observed the religion and she has been learning Catholic ways on the side. Aunt Lena is a wonderful mother figure that takes the place of Katarina's real mother and father when they die. Uncle Teo is Aunt Lena's husband and not quite used to children being around, but an effective provider for the family before he goes into hiding. There was one part of the story that may need to be read together with a fifth grade level child. While Katarina is staying at the peasant house of Mariska, she is witness to Mariska and a male friend named Kubo that make noises and touch each other in the storage room while Katarina is hiding out in there. This would probably warrant a discussion for any curious minds. Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the book is when she is in the orphanage being taken care of by the Protestant nuns and brother. It is certainly where Katarina feels the love of Sister Mara and Brother Martin. Brother Martin begins to share stories with Katarina about the war and it is obvious that he is on the side of the Partisans in Slovakia. After some exciting events at the orphanage the war finally comes to an end and Katarina heads back to her village to see if Aunt Lena and Uncle Teo are there waiting for her. This is a great book that I may include in a unit on World War II especially if studying the war from different countries and their perspectives.
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