The Sound of Freedom

Anna Hirsch, 12, lives in Krakow, Poland, with her father, Avrum, and her grandmother whom Anna calls Baba. Anna's father plays clarinet professionally in the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra and gives lessons to other people in their apartment. Anna loves hearing her father play and loves to play the clarinet herself as well. However, it is 1936, and Poland is becoming a dangerous place for Anna and her family because they are Jewish. The Hirschs often hear Adolf Hitler's speeches about their people on the radio, and, while Avrum tries to ignore the problems and hopes that the hatred will die down, Anna and her friends experience various kinds of hate towards Jewish people. Anna and best friend Renata run into a group of older boys who act threateningly towards them in a bakery, and Anna later sees the same boys vandalize a Jewish butcher’s shop and beat the shop owner. At school, Anna, Renata and their friend Stefan encounter the police chief's daughter Sabina who tells them that their kind won't be welcome at school for much longer. Sabina's father was also present at the butcher shop when the boys beat the man, and he did nothing about it. Later Sabina tells Anna's father that she can no longer take clarinet lessons from him because he is Jewish. One of the novel's strengths is that it doesn't shy away from showing different kinds of discrimination and hatred that Jewish people suffered in this time. It covers the more violent hate crimes that happened but also shows other kinds of discrimination as well.

Anna reaches a breaking point when Renata tells her that her family is leaving Poland because they no longer feel safe there. Anna tries to convince her father to leave, but he is adamant that they will stay in Poland. After hearing of a Jewish violinist, Brionslaw Huberman, who is auditioning Jewish musicians for a new orchestra in Palestine, Anna and her Baba decide to write to Huberman asking him to let her father audition. They don't tell Avrum that they've written to Huberman, but after he and Anna are almost attacked at the music academy where he works, Anna tells her father about the letter. He agrees to go to the audition and takes Anna with him. When they arrive there, Anna meets a boy her age named Eric, and they sneak in to watch people audition. They see both of their fathers audition, but, before they see whether Avrum has been accepted into the orchestra, they are discovered by a janitor and kicked out. After anxiously waiting to hear back, the Hirschs get a letter from Huberman saying that Avrum has gotten into the orchestra, but there are only two travel passes to Palestine, one for Anna and one for Avrum. Both of them say they won't leave without Baba, and they write to Mr Huberman to ask for another pass for Baba. After more waiting and seeing Poland deteriorate further, they receive another pass for Baba, and the family begins travel arrangements. However, their plans are put on hold once more when Huberman writes, saying that tensions are rising in Palestine and they will have to wait to travel there. Four months later they receive another letter saying they can finally leave Poland for Palestine. The Hirschs pack once more and depart for their new home.

While on the train to Genoa, the port from which they will sail to Palestine, Anna and her family travel through Germany and are questioned by a Nazi soldier about their travels. Tensions run high, and Anna, who is succumbing to a fever, is terrified, but they are sent on their way, being told in a sinister tone that they are lucky they have their papers.

Though Anna gets sick on the journey to Palestine, the Hirschs all arrive safely in their new home and Anna again encounters Eric. The only problem is that Anna's clarinet has been lost somewhere along the way, and this loss upsets her very much. However, Anna and her family are busy adjusting to their new life in Palestine, an adjustment which is more difficult for some than others. While Anna's family finds it difficult, they are determined to stay, but Eric's mother is very unhappy in Palestine.

One day, Anna and Eric decide to go to the beach together after school, even though their parents wouldn't want them to. In the middle of their fun, an explosion occurs, and everyone begins to panic. Anna and Eric are stranded without a way back to their homes and both are scared, but a Palestinian man pulls his car over and offers to drive them back. The children are unsure at first, since tensions between Jewish immigrants and Palestinians are running high, but they decide to take the offer as they have no other way of getting back. The man turns out to be very kind, and although there is a language barrier, he shows Anna and Eric pictures of his family and returns them home safely.

After the explosion, Eric's mother decides she can no longer stay in Palestine, and Eric and his family leave to go back to Poland. Both Anna and Eric are saddened and worried by their decision, but they promise to keep in touch. Eric's family’s leaving is important because it shows that not everyone could handle the extreme transition to a new home, and just how dangerous that new home could be as well.

While all of this has been occurring, Anna has been attending the orchestra practices, and she connected with Huberman over her lost clarinet as he had also lost his violin on his way to Palestine. Later, after the orchestra’s very successful first concert, Anna visits Huberman, and he gifts her a new clarinet. Anna leaves feeling hopeful for her new life in Palestine with her family.

Kacer's novel is a well-crafted and heartwarming story. It remains true to the history it's based on, with the backdrop of the oncoming world war and the dangers of pre-war Palestine. Anna, her family and her friends all show different reactions to the same problem, with some leaving as soon as they realize that Hitler's rhetoric won't cease while others refuse to leave their homes. These reactions all feel genuine to the reader, and the story shows how difficult it is to leave home even when it would be dangerous to stay. The antisemitism in the story is never taken lightly, and it is always shown to be at least uncomfortable and, at most, scary and unsettling. Kacer's writing drags readers into the moment with Anna as she witnesses the antisemitism in Poland and on her journey to Palestine.

Anna's journey is shown from its very beginning to the very end, and it's not just about her getting out of Poland, but it's about her finding a new home with her family. The Sound of Freedom tells an amazing story of perseverance and strength in the hardest situation possible.