Looking Up: A Memoir of Sisters, Survivors and Skokie

In this flawed but intriguing family memoir, Pressman describes growing up as the sixth of seven sisters born to Holocaust survivors living in Skokie, Ill., after WWII. Pressman is clearly a writer with a good ear for dialogue, but her coming-of-age stories about everyday life with her sisters%E2%80%94none of whom prove to be engaging characters%E2%80%94during the 1960s and 1970s are far less interesting than her memories of her parents. It is their stories%E2%80%94her mother spent the bulk of WWII hiding from the Nazis with her family in the woods of Lithuania, while her father was in Siberia%E2%80%94that readers will find riveting. Additionally, it is difficult to pin down Pressman%E2%80%99s attitude toward her parents. In the end, it appears she resents the choices they made in Skokie despite their struggles%E2%80%94and this diminishes the power of her story. Nonetheless, Pressman is a talented writer and this book is a testament to her parents%E2%80%99 truly indomitable will.