The Butterfly

Title: The Butterfly

Author: Patricia Polacco

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary: Monique sat in her bedroom gazing at the moon, thinking about all of the Nazi troops by her house in Paris and all throughout France. For comfort, she stayed with her cat, Pinouff, as she fell asleep. Monique woke up in the middle of the night to see a ghostly figure of a girl sitting at the end of her bed petting Pinouff. The next morning, Monique wanted to tell her mother, Marcel Solliage, about her dream, but her mom didn’t seem too concerned about it. She simply told Monique to go to school while she had the privilege too because of the war. At school, Monique told her best friend, Denise, about her dream. On the way home from school, the girls stopped at Monsieur Marks candy shop and they were greeted with a friendly smile, as always. Because of the war, most of the candy was gone, but Monsieur Marks saved some for the girls. While walking home, the girls saw “tall boots” coming toward them. They were the boots of Nazi soldiers. The girls were smart enough to continue walking, but suddenly, they heard loud yelling and glass breaking. They looked back and saw Monsieur Marks being dragged from his shop. He was beaten and thrown into a car. Both of the girls went to Monique’s mother’s house crying. They didn’t understand why the Nazis took Monsieur Marks. Monique’s mother explained to the girls that it was because he is Jewish and the Nazis don’t like Jews. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. It was their priest, Pere Voulliard. He came in frantically to walk to Monique’s mother about what had just happened to Monsieur Marks. They spoke in private. Many nights passed and Monique hasn’t seen the ghost. Late at night, she awoke to the little ghost, and this time, she was holding Pinouff. Monique found out that her name was Sevrine. Sevrine told Monique that she lived “here.” Sevrine took Monique down the stairs to what looked like a door in the floor. Sevrine told Monique that her and her family have been hiding there for a long time because they are Jews and they are being hunted by the Nazis. Sevrine said that Monique’s mother had helped them, so she knew that they were there. She didn’t tell Monique because she was just trying to keep them sage. The next morning, Monique went to her garden with Pinouff. They saw a papillon-a butterfly. They sat together and watched for a while, until suddenly, Monique looked over and saw shiny boots again. Three Nazi soldiers were glaring at her. One of them came over, caught the butterfly in his fist, and squeezed it as he grinned at Monique. The other two walked away. After seeing this, Monique connected that what the soldier did to the butterfly is what they did to Monsieur Marks. Monique now knew that she needed to protect Sevrine and her family. One night, when Sevrine came into Monique’s room, she brought her a papillon. Sevrine became saddened because she missed her home, but Monique reassured her that the Nazis wouldn’t be here forever. “Let it fly now, Monique. When it flies, it will be as if Papa, Maman and I are flying away!” Sevrine said. The girls took the butterfly and watched it fly out the window until they couldn’t see it anymore. One night, the girls were in Monique’s room again and they saw her neighbor, Monsieur Lendormy. At that moment, they knew they needed to tell Marcel, so they did. Marcel told the girls that they are no longer safe in Paris and they needed to leave the country and go to the next refuge-southern France near the Swiss border. As they were walking, a Nazi patrol car full of soldiers drove past slowly. After it had passed, they sat in silence. Before Sevrine needed to say her final goodbye to Marcel and Monique, Monique pulled Pinouff out of her sweater and gave it to Sevrine. IN return, Sevrine gave Monique her gold Star of David necklace for remembrance. As Monique and Marcel were at the train station going home, there was a massive amount of travelers, so the two of them held onto each other tightly. Suddenly, people began to push and Monique could no longer see her mother. She lost her footing; fell and Sevrine’s necklace fell onto the floor. She picked it up and got on a train, alone. She walked through a familiar place and finally met up wither mother again. The next day, Monique and Marcel were planting for the next year and they both watched as butterflies started to land in the garden. To Monique, this was a sign that Sevrine and her family were safe.

Characters: Monique, Sevrine, Marcel, Denise, Monsieur Marks, Monsieur Lendormy, Nazi soldiers, Pinouff, butterflies, Pere Voulliard

Setting: Paris, France

Plot: stay safe and protect Sevrine and her family from the Nazi soldiers

Theme: protection

Opinion: I enjoyed reading this book. It was very informational and it showed a lot of symbolization with the butterfly. I think this book would be good while doing a lesson on certain religions or just on symbols. The butterfly wasn’t just an insect in this book; it proved to be a very significant factor throughout the entire book.