Words Matter: The Story of Hans and Sophie Scholl, and the White Rose Resistance

By Anita Fitch Pazner and Sophie Casson

Reviewed by Annaleise Byrd

Anita Fitch Pazner is an American author who was born in Germany. Sophie Casson is from Montreal, Quebec and has illustrated more than 30 books.

Words Matter is the story of Hans and Sophie Scholl, German siblings who were members of the White Rose Resistance, a student group in Munich that actively resisted the Nazi Party using nonviolent methods such as writing and distributing pamphlets. Opening with their idyllic childhood, the book progresses through the war years, the siblings’ involvement in and growing disillusionment with Hitler’s youth programs, and their eventual secret activism via the White Rose movement – which culminated in their execution by guillotine in 1943.

Fitch Pazner’s lyrical writing employs metaphors that subtly reference the movement’s namesake flower – for example, ‘the thorny truth pierced his soul’ and ‘people huddled beneath the ground in shelters, waiting like dormant roses in the dead of winter’. The story frequently returns to the impact of words: words are beautiful, words are powerful, words have consequences, and so on. This provides a rich lens through which to view this period in history: the use of words to sow fear, to spread propaganda, to sing, to educate, to resist.

Casson’s illustrations have a crayon-like appearance and often play with scale. For example, on the page where the Gestapo arrest the siblings, a large black shoe kicks far-smaller characters, and in the scene where books are burnt, the books are as tall as the people throwing them onto the bonfire. There are colour illustrations on every page.

This is a 70-page narrative non-fiction book with up to eight sentences per double-page spread. It has a hard cover and dimensions that are somewhat larger than a novel but smaller than a standard picture book. The book ends with a five-page Historical Note – including a high-quality photo of Hans, Sophie and their friend Christoph – along with a list of references and the names of the arrested White Rose activists and their persecuted family members.

It is difficult to pinpoint the ideal age for this book. While the publisher website suggests ages 9 to 12, I feel it would be better suited to the upper end of this and/or even a high school setting. Many rich discussions could result from reading it in a Year 10 HASS class when World War Two is studied. It would also make an excellent companion read for We Are Wolves by Katrina Nannestad, which is likewise set in Germany towards the end of WWII.

Groundwood Books / House of Anansi Press 2025

Anita Fitch Pazner

Sophie Casson

Annaleise Byrd is the author of middle grade portal fantasies Losing the Plot and Down the Plot Hole, and the picture book You Are Not a Pup!