Prisoner B-3087, Alan Gratz. "We are alive. We are alive, and that is all that matters. We cannot let them tear us from the pages of the world," said Yanek Gruener, or B-3087, to a young boy in the midst of the horrific Holocaust at Birkenau concentration camp. Watching the wall go up around Krakow, Poland, in 1939, to being separated from his family and knowing their fate, to the ten concentration camps that Yanek endured, his story is important. The author does acknowledge taking liberties, thus calling it a novel; however, Yanek (currently living in America and named Jack) is indeed real and the cruelty, starvation, brutality and hatred is very, very real. This story requires emotional stamina, because it is graphic, unimaginable and horrifying. Before suggesting this to a mature reader, I would recommend reading it first so you can prepare your reader for what lies ahead.