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Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit







Anna and the Swallow Man is a YA fiction novel by Gavriel Savit. It was on Publishers Weekly's list of top YA books for 2016. Set in Poland during World War II, this book tells the story of Anna and the stranger who takes her under his wing when she's left an orphan and homeless.

Sex: There's a scene near the end of the book where Anna is trying to get medicine for the Swallow Man and she's forced to undress in front of the pharmacist and "do what he asks."

Language: There's one instance of strong language.

Alcohol/Drug Use: Reb Hirschl likes to drink and is drunk as often as he can find alcohol.

Violence/Gore/Frightening Scenes/Death: There is a lot of death and many disturbing images. Anna and the Swallow Man are constantly on the move during the war and they see a lot of terrible things. This book contains the normal amount of war-related scenes you would typically see in a story set during this time period.

Final Note: Gavriel Savit himself calls this story a fairy tale. It's one of the more unique World War II books I've ever read. If you're the type that likes books to have a neat ending with all questions answered, this is definitely not the novel for you. The writing was beautiful and I feel like I'll be thinking about this story for weeks to come.

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