Snow Treasure

  

Title:  Snow Treasure                              Copyright date:1942

Author:  Marie McSwigan                       Pages of book:156 pages

Genre:  Realistic Fiction/ Historical Fiction   Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Summary:   The children in Norway love to sled and ski during their long winter season.  In the winter on 1940 these children were put to use to protect their country from invasion during World War II.  No one ever thought that the war would reach all the way to Norway, but when the word was received that German soldiers were heading to their town, the citizens were determined that they would not allow the gold from their banks to be confiscated and used to buy guns and ammunition to fight their own people.  They came up with an ingenious plan to use the children to carry out the gold on their sleds right past the German soldiers that have taken up camp in their town.  The children, led by twelve year-old Peter follow the directions given to them by Peter’s Uncle Vincent to put the gold on their sleds and transport it down the hill, right  through the German camp and to the bank of the fjord where during the darkness of night, Uncle Vincent would  transferred it to a ship bound for America.  When they get to the designated spot by the water’s edge, they bury the gold in the snow and make a snowman on top of it to mark the spot where the gold was hidden.  The children are instructed to never say a word to any of the German soldiers. The Germans are completely unsuspicious of children out playing in the snow .  The plan comes into danger when the weather warms up and the snow begins to melt.  Thankfully, there is a blizzard unlike any that anyone can ever remember, and there is enough snow to complete the mission.  When the gold is nearly all delivered, Thomas sees a German soldier ski past the area where they have been burying the gold.   The soldier is captured and says that he is from Poland and has been forced into the German army against his will.  He pleads with the others to let him go with them to America to escape.  They are not going to trust him until Thomas is taken prisoner and the only way to get him out is to trust the Polish soldier to help him escape.

Reaction:  I really enjoyed this book.  It had a lot of action and suspense that kept you want to keep reading.  It gave a good picture of what the people went through during the German invasion, and how frightening that was.  It also showed how the people were courageous and willing to sacrifice to defend their country.  The children has to depend on each other and follow instructions that they didn’t always understand the reasons for in order for the plan to work. 

Problems:  The problems shown in this book were those caused by war.  The peaceful people of Norway were being invaded by German soldiers and had heard about how the gold in the banks had been taken and used to help the German army.  They were determined not to allow that to happen with their gold, but knew that if adults tried to transport it or hide it they would be discovered.

Recommendations:  I would recommend this book to middle elementary ages and older.  It is a good way to teach about World War II and how it affected some of the other countries.  It had a lot of action and suspense that made the story exciting.  It also showed how children can do important things when they work together.  It was a great story to show patriotism and the price that has been paid for freedom.