“Absolutely one of the best eye-witness accounts of WWII Poland that I ever read.”
            — Alan Furst, bestselling author of The Foreign Correspondent and The Spies of Warsaw

“An incredible book…thoroughly absorbing and quick to read…deserves a wide audience…would make an excellent book club choice, especially for readers who enjoyed Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky, The Diary of Anne Frank, or Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.”
            — Rose City Reader

“Adrenalin-charged…marked by unsparing candour and flashes of humour.”
            — The Ottawa Citizen

“An unusual take on WWII…a rare eyewitness account of the war’s early, chaotic days–the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Siege of Warsaw and the first few months of Nazi occupation–written by Rulka Langer, a civilian, a young Polish career woman and mother and a graduate of Vassar College.”
            — Publishers Weekly

“A wonderful, heart-warming read.”
            — BookPleasures

“I’m most amazed at how readable this is compared to other books about the war experience. Suitable for all ages, it would make an excellent resource in a classroom.”
            — The Black Sheep Dances

“A gripping, fast-paced narrative…takes you to the centre of the drama.”
            — Cosmopolitan Review

“Personal, moving, laced with grim humor, and accessible to a modern audience.”
            — College & Research Libraries News

“The narrative is so exquisitely rendered, built as it is upon a mountain of sharply observed details and trenchant insights into human nature, I could not put it down…One of the gifts of Langer’s narrative is her unsparing, truthful description of herself and others.”
            — Wanda Urbanska, host & producer of the PBS TV show Simple Living

“A remarkable book.”
            — Sarmatian Review

“A war has many dimensions…The Mermaid and the Messerschmitt is unusual because it provides the perspective of a helpless and young bystander.”
            — Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Center for Strategic and International Studies

“I couldn’t put the book down. Her story is riveting…utterly contemporary and compelling.”
            — Fontayne Holmes, City Librarian, Los Angeles Public Library, 2004-2008

“What a story she tells…brutally honest…quietly humorous…Must-read for anyone interested in World War II.”
          — Lev Raphael, author of My Germany

“Insights into the 1939 Siege of Warsaw, the Early German Occupation of Conquered Poland, and the Beginnings of the Polokaust “
           — Jews & Poles Database

Find out more about the Benjamin Franklin Awards.