I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree by Laura Hillman is a realistic fiction book about a Schindler's list survivor. This book rates a four and a half out of five. It is a four and a half because there isn't enough description about Hannelore's family.

I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree is about a Schindler's list survivor whose father, Martin Wolff, was killed by the Gestapo, and whose mother, Karoline Wolff, and two sons, Wolfgang and Selly Wolff, are going to be deported to a concentration camp in the east. Hannelore, the daughter of Karoline and Martin Wolff, writes a letter to the Gestapo asking if she could be deported with her family. Hannelore receives a letter from the Gestapo saying she is allowed to go with her family. Hannelore is sent to the concentration camp but is not there for long. Hannelore is separated from her family and sent to another concentration camp. Hannelore keeps getting sent to different concentration camps because the Nazis need some of the jobs the Jews are doing, like doctors, nurses, babysitters etc. At one of the camps, Hannelore finds her brother, Selly. Hannalore is finally sent to Schindlers concentration camp called Brunnlitz that was the eighth camp Hannelore had been to. Between the first concentration camp and the last Hannelore loses her two brothers and Mother to the Nazis. Hannelore's brother Selly dies from illness and lack of proper care. Wolfgang, Hannelore's other brother, was deported to a different camp so Hannelore does not know what happened to him. The same thing happened to Hannelore's mother, she was deported to a different camp. Hannelore also meets a man named Dick who is a Polish POW. They fall in love at one of the concentration camps.
This is a story about a girls whose whole life was turned upside down because of the Nazis and Hitler and what she went through just to be with her family even after they all died.
The author's style of writing is very good because it is easy to follow and draws you into the book. Her writing is also very good because she didn't hide any of the horror's she encountered. After the war, Hannelore changed her name to Laura Hillman and married a man Dick Hillman who she fell in love with at Budzyn. This was a great book because it gave a great understanding of how the Nazis treatedJews. It shows how devoted people are to their families and what they would do to be with each other.
Another book called Number the Stars has the same outline as I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree except it is meant for kids so it is an edited version and the true horrors of the camps isn't described. Another book that has the same outline as I Will Plant You a Lilac is the Anne Frank Journals the kid version and teenage version. I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree gives a better understanding of what really happened in the holocaust than any of the other books because this girl went through just about everything and survived to tell about it. Anne Frank;s journal told the story about a family in hiding and what that was like.
I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree tells the story of a family who lost their father their house and almost everything else they owned. They still did not cry about their loss but stuck together and helped each other up when they fell. If you want the unedited version of what a sixteen-year-old girl went through this is a very good book and its recommended to anyone.