Ashes By Kathryn Lasky: Summary

The book Ashes by Kathryn Lasky is a historical fiction novel about a girl named Gabrielle Shramm. She is 13 years old and lives in Berlin. She prefers to go by her nickname Gaby. Her father and mother are both successful and her sister is in college. The main characters are Gaby, Ulla, her sister, Papa, and her mother. Her father works with Albert Einstein and The story takes place during World War 2 when Hitler is making his rise as the leader of the Nazis and Germany.
Each chapter of the story begins with a quote from one of these five authors Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, Rainer Maria Remarque, and Erich Kästne. The story begins with Gaby in her Algebra 1 class where she is reading The Call of the Wild. Her teacher Dr. Herr Berg notices that she

But, at home, the talk is more and more about the political situation, which in 1932 is all over the place, though everyone is relieved when the Nazis lose seats in the Reichstag, the German Parliament, in hope that it will put an end to the Nazi Party in Germany.
But that is not what happens at all even through all of the twists, turns, and challenges, Hitler still manages to be declared the Chancellor by President Hindenburg by the end of the year 1933. And things change very quickly even in Gaby’s safe and happy life.
The period from 1919-1933 was such a complicated time in German history and politics. The Nazis referred to it as the Kampfzeit, the time of struggle to gain acceptance and power for their radical policies. Lasky covers only 1932-1933 in Ashes and kudos to her for successfully tackling it in a novel for young readers. There is lots of talk about events that actually happened, and Lasky provides enough information to understand it without overwhelming or boring the