Winner Of The 2023 Gold Moonbeam Children''s Book Award In Non-fiction: Chapter Book Commended As A Moving And Hopeful Story Of Courage And Perseverance In A Starred Review By Booklist, American Shoes Is A Profound Mosaic Of Memories Recounting 15-year-old Rosemarie Lengsfeld Turkes Escape From Nazi Germany, Leaving Her Life And Family Behind To Forge Ahead In An America She Left As A Small Child.set Against A Backdrop Of Adolf Hitlers Rise To Power, The Reign Of Nazi Germany, And The Entire Course Of World War Ii In Europe, American Shoes Recounts The Tumultuous Childhood Of A Young American Girl And Her Family Trapped Within A Country That Turned Against Itself, Where Human Decency Eroded And Then Vaporized. Forced To Grow Up In The Midst Of Endemic Fear Stoked By A Ravenous Madman, American Shoes Portrays The Breakdown Of A Society From A Childs Point Of View, Deep Inside A Land Where Millions Of Law-abiding Citizens Were Targeted As Threats, And Then Removed For Extermination. This Is The Story Of A Brave Girl Who, Despite Not Being Jewish, Was Perceived To Be One Of Those Threats And Was Compelled To Keep Her American Identity Secret For Fear Of Her Familys Arrest, Concentration Camp Placement, Or Worse.