The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw--and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen guests hid inside the Zabinskis' villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants--otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes.With her exuberant prose and exquisite sensitivity to the natural world, Diane Ackerman engages us viscerally in the lives of the zoo animals, their keepers, and their hidden visitors. She shows us how Antonina refused to give in to the penetrating fear of discovery, keeping alive an atmosphere of play and innocence even as Europe crumbled around her.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 09/17/2007
ISBN: 9780393061727
Pages: 368
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 8.65h x 5.99w x 1.17d
Award: ALA Notable Books - Winner

Review Citations: Library Journal Prepub Alert 05/01/2007 pg. 56
Kirkus Best Books 05/15/2007 pg. 3
Publishers Weekly 07/23/2007 pg. 58
New York Times Book Review 09/09/2007 pg. 9
Booklist 08/01/2007 pg. 5
Library Journal 09/01/2007 pg. 147
New York Times Book Review 09/16/2007 pg. 26
LJ Best Books of Year 12/01/2007 pg. 72
Booklist Editors Choice/Adult 01/01/2008 pg. 7
Newsweek 03/03/2008 pg. 14

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 159168 / Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
Reading Level: 9.3 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 16