Prisoner B-3087

Author: Alan Gratz

Publisher: Scholastic Press

What would you do if you were taken away from your family to a series of horrible concentration camps-–the only reason being you were Jewish? Shortly after Yanek Gruener’s parents and several other family members are taken by Nazis, Yanek himself is taken away. After that, he is taken to the Plaszów Concentration Camp, and after that another camp. Yanek soon realizes that he is used to death now–and finds himself wondering if it would be better to survive or not. 

Prisoner B-3087 is historical fiction, (almost non-fiction, since it is based on a true story by Jack Gruener) so readers that enjoy historical fiction will like this. Another thing about this book is that it is very honest. Younger readers wouldn’t like this book because of some of the violence and cruelty that are present in this novel.

One of the things that I kept remembering throughout Prisoner B-3087 was that it is based on a true story. The level of honesty that the author used was astonishing. One thing that I liked about this read is that it isn’t a detailed look at one concentration camp, but instead a broad look at the series of camps Yanek is sent to, all the way throughout the story. As Yanek progressed through several years of practically torture, I found tears coming to my eyes at how hard it would’ve been to be Yanek during those times.