The Secret Buttons by Ellen M. Shapiro
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Illustrator: Caterina Baldi
Ellen M. Shapiro is an author, graphic designer, and lecturer who has taught at leading design schools, including the Designer as Author MFA program at New York’s School of Visual Arts.
Her novel, a recently released middle grade/YA illustrated work of historical fiction, is titled THE SECRET BUTTONS. The novel is a suspenseful coming-of-age novel capturing a tween girl’s perspective on the years leading to WWII and the Holocaust. THE SECRET BUTTONS was inspired by the real life experiences and a memory of the author’s mother, Elizabeth Nussbaum Shapiro, who grew up in Vienna, Austria, had her education interrupted in 1938 by the Anchluss, and ultimately opened and ran a needlework shop in multicultural Inglewood, California.
When Ellen was about ten years old, her mother told her something intriguing about her life in England during the blackouts and the Blitz. Could Mom really have been involved in a secret operation to help Jewish refugees secure a future in America by crocheting buttons with diamonds hidden inside? Ellen M. Shapiro explores thoroughly researched, well-documented WWII history and experiences—and her mother’s mysterious recollection—through the eyes of a resourceful tween heroine, Anni Blum. We first meet Anni, at age twelve, in March 1939 as she boards a train with her seven-year-old sister, Rosie, to escape Vienna, her home until Hitler’s armies invaded. Traveling alone, the two girls are headed for Dover, England, to help their distant cousins take care of the country house they will be staying in as the nation prepares for war.
With their dark, curly hair pulled back tightly, the girls are dressed to blend in with the “Aryan” holiday travelers. Aside from their forged passports and real Domestic Worker Visas, Anni is traveling with her valuables: a German-English pocket dictionary, a copy of The Traveler’s Phrase-book for Visitors to England, and balls of yarn, a crochet hook, and other precious supplies for her designs. “Crafty girl,” says the conductor upon inspecting the contents of her knapsack. That offhand comment, given with a friendly wink, proves prescient. On top of loneliness, homesickness, and worries about what is happening back home, Anni grapples with navigating a new language and being misunderstood. At first, the local boys in the fictional English village of Tuppinshire tease her for speaking German and accuse her of being a Nazi spy.
Her aunt Vivian scornfully treats her and Rosie like maids. And she yearns to return to school. To aggravate matters, Anni suffers flashbacks to painful moments in Vienna—from being forbidden to play in the neighborhood park to discovering that her favorite needlework shop was smashed and looted on Kristallnacht to watching in horror as the Nazis take her Papa away. She also relives her anger over being renamed “Sarah”—like all Jewish girls and women—to identify her as a Jew, and the comfort of bonding with other girls in the same “club.” Yet gradually, over the years of blackouts and bombings, Anni and Rosie find their place among family, make new friends, forge boldly ahead, and use their talents and creativity to make an incredible difference for others.
PRAISE FOR THE SECRET BUTTONS
“A fascinating journey through the hardships of life during WWII through the eyes of two talented, courageous young girls.”
Sarah Leone, Holocaust historian and editor Duke University Press
“Ellen’s rhythmic writing and flowing graphic design are enriched by alluring illustrations. This marriage of word and image is an intelligent, movingly engaging totality.”
Steven Heller, Former art director, New York Times Book Review; Co-chair emeritus, ‘Designer as Author’ MFA program, School of Visual Arts
“Will inspire our children — and all of us — to be brave and resilient in the face of evil.”
Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, PhD, Professor of Sociology and Gender &, Women’s Studies, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
“Marvelous. I couldn’t put it down.”
Rabbi Shoshana Leis, Pleasantville Community Synagogue
“The best book I’ve ever read.”
Joya Merkin Sixth-grade book club leader
ELLEN M. SHAPIRO is a graphic designer and writer. A graduate of UCLA’s College of Fine Arts, she has headed a graphic communications firm for over 20 years and taught at leading design schools, including the Designer as Author MFA program at New York’s School of Visual Arts. A contributing editor for Print Magazine and writer for Printmag.com, she has published hundreds of articles and posts and two nonfiction books about visual culture around the world. Inspired by her mother’s memories of the Holocaust in Vienna and life in wartime England, The Secret Buttons is her first novel.
The book’s page on the author’s website. The author is on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
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Year first published: 2025
