I don’t read a lot of nonfiction, but I do love anything historical. “The Lucky One” by Sherry V. Ostroff is the story of the history of her family, her mother’s life, to be exact. Her mother grew up in Eastern Europe and she and her family were forced to move around a lot for their own safety, though, because she was a young girl, she wasn’t fully aware of the dangers. She managed to have fun and enjoy her childhood the best she could in her circumstances.

This is Sherry V. Ostroff’s first book, and she did a wonderful job keeping her mother’s original stories and voice alive in this book. The story is divided into chapters written in Italics, which are the original stories by her mother, and Ms. Ostroff did a good job writing accompanying chapters further explaining the historical events that her mother mentioned or lived through, giving the reader a clear picture of her mother’s story.

Sherry V. Ostroff chose to call the book, “The Lucky One” and refers to her mother as being “lucky” several times throughout the story. However, she also mentions that her mother did not consider herself “lucky”.

After reading the account of Ita’s life, I would not call her “lucky” either. I would call her “blessed”. Surely the way Ita (Sherry’s mother) and her mother (Sherry’s grandmother) were able to stay one step ahead of death could only have been orchestrated by God.

This story was a quick, easy read. It held my attention, and in some ways reminded me of Corrie Ten Boom’s “The Hiding Place”, though this story is not as detailed. If you like true, historical stories and stories about real people, I recommend that you read “The Lucky One” by Sherry V. Ostroff.