Revisiting "Angel Girl"

Back in October, I posted a review of a children's book entitled "Angel Girl". It was the story of survival during the Holocaust and an improbable love story. I *loved* the book and the romantic possibilities of the story, and couldn't wait for the full memoir to be published this winter.

Well, as it turns out, the story really was too good to be true. I've just discovered that this story was revealed to have been fictionalized back in December. The publication of the full memoir has been canceled and the author will have to return all money received from the publisher. Furthermore, the children's book has been recalled!

Here are some of the related articles:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6625043.html?rssid=192

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5409220.ece

http://www.delmio.com/tag/holocaust/

http://www.lernerbooks.com/angelgirl/

I am beyond disappointed. I wrote my review of the book (which was also submitted to Amazon.com for their Vine program) with the assumption that the inspiring elements of this story were true. Would I have found the story so powerful if I had known it was fiction? I don't know, but I do know that my initial reading of the story was strongly colored by the alleged "factual" underpinnings of the story. I feel cheated and deceived. Since I didn't pay for my copy of the book (which was sent to me free through the Amazon Vine program), I'm not out any money, but I wonder how many copies were sold based on my reviews. Hopefully not too many. If you bought the book based on my review, feel free to contact Lerner Books using the link above to get your money back.