The Extra - Kathryn Lasky (Paperback)

Abruptly arrested by Hitler's police and imprisoned as part of the "Gypsy plague," 15-year-old Lilo is chosen by the dictator's favorite filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl, to work as an extra, forcing Lilo to choose between working under the shadow of constant danger or fleeing for her life. By the Newbery Honor-winning author of Sugaring Time. Reprint.

“A well-researched and uncompromising stand-alone novel focusing on the Nazi genocide of the Roma and Sinti peoples.” —Publishers Weekly

In this chilling but ultimately uplifting novel, Kathryn Lasky imagines the lives of the Romani—called the “Gypsy Plague” by the Nazis—who worked as extras for Hitler’s real favorite filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Fifteen-year-old Lilo and the other extras are barely fed, closely guarded, and kept in a locked barn when not on the movie set. And Riefenstahl is always present, answering the slightest provocation with malice, flaunting the power to assign prisoners to life or death. When faced with a rare opportunity, Lilo takes matters into her own hands, effecting an escape and running for her life, giving readers a story of survival unlike any other.