updates | March 21, 2026

Is the upstairs room fiction or nonfiction?

In this fine autobiographical novel, Johanna Reiss depicts the trials of her Dutch-Jewish family during World War II. The youngest of three daughters tells how she and her sister hid for more than two years in the upstairs room.

What grade level is the upstairs room?

The Upstairs Room

Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-Z
Grades 5 – 6Grades 1 – 8Y

Is the upstairs room a true story?

This classic autobiographical novel is a strong choice for classroom sharing and independent reading. A classic WWII survivor story based on award-winning author Johanna Reiss’s own childhood during the Holocaust. When the German army occupied Holland in 1940, Annie was only eight years old.

How old was Annie in the upstairs room?

Annie de Leeuw was eight years old in 1940 when the Germans attacked Holland and marched into the town of Winterswijk where she lived. Annie was ten when, because she was Jewish and in great danger of being captured b.

Who is Sini in the upstairs room?

Sini serves as a mother figure for Annie, teaching her basic school lessons such as counting and reading, but she sometimes does so only half-heartedly; she frets about her life passing her by while she hides and misses the opportunity for romance.

What happens in the upstairs room?

The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss, is a story told from the view of a Jewish girl, Annie, who is only six years old when Hitler first begins to destroy the Jews. Annie and her family must go into hiding with Gentile families in order to avoid the concentration camps.

Who are the main characters in the upstairs room?

Characters. The main figures in “The Upstairs Room” are Annie herself, Sini and their rescuers, Johan and Dientje Oosterveld and his mother, Opoe.

What is the theme of the upstairs room?

The themes present in The Upstairs Room, and other Holocaust novels like it, revolve around family, fear, war, hope, and persecution. In regards to the theme of family, the novel presents numerous different situations which highlight the importance of family.

What happens in The Upstairs Room?

Who are the main characters in The Upstairs Room?