Lilo is a young Sinti girl in Nazi Germany. One night she along with her mother and father are snatched from their home and sent to a camp where other gypsies were sent. Lilo and her mother were separated from her father immediately, but Lilo made quick friends with Django who could arrange things such as food and information. Lilo and her mother were chosen for a medical procedure, but Lilo is able to hide and escape from it. After her mother endures the surgery, Lilo knows that she has to do something or her mother is not going to survive. Django finds out that the filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl, needs extras for her film. Since the inhabitants of this camp have darker skin, they fit the roles of the film nicely. Django tells Lilo about it, and she secures a spot for her and her mother to go on site for the movie. This saves them for a time, but more atrocities occur throughout the making of the film. Leni Riefenstahl is no savior--she is out for herself and the Third Reich. Who will survive in this story? Find out in The Extra by Kathryn Lasky.
It is not the best Holocaust novel that I have read, but this novel tells a part of the Holocaust that is not generally discussed. For that reason, I recommend reading it if for no other reason than to remember the history.
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