History Literature / NumberTheStars

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: The whole Johansen family, with their blond hair and good nature. It is, however, [[spoiler: Lise's involvement in the Danish Resistance]], along with Annemarie and her parents helping the Rosen family escape the Nazis that cement their status of bearing golden hearts.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Kirsti. This actually winds up being ''helpful'' because her distracting tactics wind up amusing and charming the Nazi soldiers that bother the girls.

* HeroesWantRedheads: [[spoiler:Lise's involvement in the Danish Resistance makes her a hero, and she was engaged to Peter.]]

* KickTheDog: The Nazis make a habit out of this. The soldiers that intrude on the apartment tear up the photo of Lise (the real Lise) after they see her dark curls, and are convinced that Ellen is her. It especially hurts in that Lise died two years ago.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Kirsti's real name is Kirsten, which is revealed only once during the scene where the baby photos of the Johansen girls are revealed.

* BittersweetEnding: Ellen and her family survive the Holocaust, as do other Danish-Jewish families. [[spoiler:Peter dies and is shot, however, and the Johansens can only leave flowers at an unmarked grave and hope it's his.]]

* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: The whole Johansen family, with their blond hair and good nature. It is, however, [[spoiler: Lise's involvement in the Danish Resistance]] along with Annemarie and her parents helping the Rosen family escape the Nazis that cement their status of bearing golden hearts.

* PovertyFood: Every night since the Nazis came, the Johansens have had potatoes for dinner and little else, along with hot water flavored with herbs as a substitute for coffee and tea. Kirsti wishes for yellow cupcakes with pink frosting.

* PovertyFood: Every night since the Nazis came, the Johansens have had potatoes for dinner and little else, along with hot water flavored with herbs instead of coffee or tea. Kirsti wishes for yellow cupcakes with pink frosting.

* DramaticNecklaceRemoval: The Nazis are coming, and Annemarie realizes that Ellen still has her Star of David necklace on, so she yanks it off just in time. However, she warns her that it will hurt, and in the end, she asks her father to fix it so she may wear it herself until Ellen comes back.

* DidNotDieThatWay: We are told that Annemarie's older sister Lise was killed when she was hit by a car near the beginning of the Nazi occupation of Denmark. At the end of the book, Annemarie's parents tell her the truth [[spoiler:Lise was a member of LaResistance]]. She was hit by a car, but [[spoiler:it was a car driven by Nazis who deliberately ran her down as she tried to flee from them]].

* ExactWords: Annemarie was told that her older sister Lise was killed in a car accident. At the end, [[spoiler:Annemarie's parents reveal that Lise was actually murdered by the Nazis during a raid on a secret Danish resistance meeting. They ran her down in their car-- so Annemarie's parents weren't ''technically'' lying to her. The only consolation Annemarie has is that at least Lise was not shot in public, the way Lise's fiancé Peter was]].
* GuileHero: Annemarie's parents are both quick-thinking and brilliant when dealing with the Nazi soldiers. When they ask why Ellen is brown-haired while Kirsti and Annemarie are blonde, Mr. Johansen just shows him baby pictures of his deceased daughter, Lise-- who luckily was born with brown hair. Annemarie realizes he even had the foresight to angrily rip the picture out of the album because the true Lise's birthdate was written on the bottom of the picture and she was much older than Ellen appears to be. Mrs. Johansen later uses a [[DuckSeasonRabbitSeason Bugs Bunny-level reversal]] of opinion to keep from having to open the casket holding the Jewish refugees' supplies, by talking about how much she longed to give "Great-Aunt Birte" a final kiss goodbye even though the doctor advised a closed casket due to her dying of typhus.
* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: The whole Johansen family, with their blond hair and good-nature. It is, however [[spoiler: Lise's involvement in the Danish Resistance]] along with Annemarie and her parents move to help the Rosen family escape the Nazis that cement their status of bearing golden hearts.
* HeroesWantRedheads: [[spoiler: Lise's involvement in the Danish Resistance makes her one and she was engaged to Peter.]]

* KickTheDog: Nazis make a habit out of this. The soldiers that intrude on the apartment tear up the photo of Lise, the real Lise after they see her dark curls, and are convinced that Ellen is her. It especially hurts in that Lise died two years ago.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: [[spoiler: Lise died because she was hit by a car. In the end, it is revealed that she was intentionally hit by the Nazis because she was part of LaResistance.]]

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Kirsti's real name is Kirsten which is revealed only once during the scene where the baby photos of the Johansen girls are revealed.

* DeadPersonImpersonation: When hiding with the Johansens, Ellen takes on the name of their deceased daughter, Lise. A Nazi officer becomes suspicious when he sees that Ellen has dark hair while her "parents" and "sisters" are blonde, but Mr. and Mrs. Johansen trick him by showing him a photo of the real Lise as a baby, who had dark hair then.

* DishonoredDead: [[spoiler:Of the undeserved variety. Peter and the other Resistance members are executed by the Nazis and simply buried in unmarked graves.]]

* AdultFear:
** The whole scenario: Nazi occupation in Denmark; there are some inconveniences like having no sugar or butter. Then there are the soldiers stopping you for any reason, like running on the street. When some soldiers stop the girls and fondle Kristi's hair, their mother obviously freaks out and suggests they take a different way home for a few days.
** Annemarie was told that her older sister Lise was killed in a car accident. At the end, [[spoiler:Annemarie's parents reveal that Lise was actually murdered by the Nazis during a raid on a secret Danish resistance meeting. They ran her down in their car-- so Annemarie's parents weren't ''technically'' lying to her. The only consolation Annemarie has is that at least Lise was not shot in public, the way Lise's fiancé Peter was]].
** The whole scene where the Johansens lie to intruding soldiers that Ellen is their daughter Lise. Mr. Johansen's PapaWolf attitude is NotAnAct, especially when the soldiers suspect she is not their daughter while looking for the Rosens. Annemarie is relieved that Kirsti is sleeping through it because she would have a tantrum and make things worse. The soldiers, when they are convinced, tear up the photo of the real Lise.

* WouldHitAGirl: A German soldier investigating the supposed funeral slaps Mrs. Johansen when she tells him not to go near something.

''Number the Stars'' is a HistoricalFiction children's novel by Lois Lowry.

''Number The Stars'' is a HistoricalFiction children's novel by Lois Lowry.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Kirsti.

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Annemarie and Mrs. Johansen do this when dealing with the Nazis.

* PovertyFood: Every night since the Nazis came, the Johansens have had potatoes for dinner and little else, along with herb-flavored water instead of tea. Kirsti wishes for yellow cupcakes with pink frosting.
* PreciousPhoto: The Johansens have one of Lise from when she was a baby with dark hair, which they show to a Nazi officer to "prove" that Ellen is their "daughter".