The Secret of Gabi's Dresser

Sylvia Pantaleo is an assistant professor of education specializing in
children’s literature at Queen’s University and the co-author of
Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary Classroom.

While visiting their Babichka one Sunday, Paul and Vera listen to her
recount the story of hiding in a wooden dresser during World War II.
Gabi begins her story in 1940, when she was an 11-year-old girl living
happily with her parents in a farming community in Czechoslovakia. As
the story unfolds, she describes the changes that occurred in her life
following the Nazis invasion of Czechoslovakia: Jewish children were
forbidden to attend public school, Jewish businesses were taken over,
Jewish people were required to wear the identifying yellow star, her
friends deserted her. As time passed, the hardships worsened. When a
rumor circulated that the Nazis were taking young girls to unknown
destinations, Gabi convinced her mother that the wooden dresser would
provide safe refuge for her. Unfortunately, she was forced to test the
security of the sanctuary.

At the end of the book, Kathy Kacer explains how the book was inspired
by real events—that during World War II, her mother hid in a wooden
dresser while Slovak Guard soldiers searched her house. The historical
events and setting are further contextualized by information in the
author’s notes, the foreword, and a section called “The War in
Czechoslovakia.” Ironically (and cleverly), the novel begins with the
words “Home free!,” a foreshadowing of subsequent events. In this
engaging novel, Kacer creates feelings of terror and tension as she
deftly crafts her realistic story. Highly recommended.