Hannah Stern does not understand why Grandpa Will always gets upset when confronted with images from WWII. She knows that during the war he was imprisoned in one of the concentration camps, but his spells of rage frighten and embarrass her and she wonders why he obsesses over the dark past. During the family Seder, the ritual feast held at the Jewish holiday of Passover, Hannah is required to open the door for the prophet, Elijah. However, once she opens the door, she finds herself transported back in time. She is in a different house, in a different land. Everyone insists on calling her "Chaya." Hannah is confused: Chaya is her Jewish name—a name meaning “life,” but she is not this girl that everyone thinks she is. To Hannah’s horror, she also finds out that she is in Poland, and the year is 1942. No words of warning about what is in store for the Jews of Poland make any difference to her newly adopted family. It isn’t long before Hannah and the rest of the shtetl, or village, are taken to a concentration camp. There, Hannah begins to understand exactly why Grandpa Will cannot forget the war. She learns why it is important to remember the atrocities of the concentration camps. Even though Hannah now understands the gravity of the Holocaust, she feels powerless to prevent what lies in wait for the inhabitants of the concentration camp. Will she be able to survive? —Jacqueline Danziger-Russell
THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC by Jane Yolen (1988)
Puffin, 2004 edition. 170 pages. ISBN: 0142401099. Winner of the National Jewish Book Award, 1989.
Hannah Stern does not understand why Grandpa Will always gets upset when confronted with images from WWII. She knows that during the war he was imprisoned in one of the concentration camps, but his spells of rage frighten and embarrass her and she wonders why he obsesses over the dark past. During the family Seder, the ritual feast held at the Jewish holiday of Passover, Hannah is required to open the door for the prophet, Elijah. However, once she opens the door, she finds herself transported back in time. She is in a different house, in a different land. Everyone insists on calling her "Chaya." Hannah is confused: Chaya is her Jewish name—a name meaning “life,” but she is not this girl that everyone thinks she is. To Hannah’s horror, she also finds out that she is in Poland, and the year is 1942. No words of warning about what is in store for the Jews of Poland make any difference to her newly adopted family. It isn’t long before Hannah and the rest of the shtetl, or village, are taken to a concentration camp. There, Hannah begins to understand exactly why Grandpa Will cannot forget the war. She learns why it is important to remember the atrocities of the concentration camps. Even though Hannah now understands the gravity of the Holocaust, she feels powerless to prevent what lies in wait for the inhabitants of the concentration camp. Will she be able to survive? —Jacqueline Danziger-Russell
Hannah Stern does not understand why Grandpa Will always gets upset when confronted with images from WWII. She knows that during the war he was imprisoned in one of the concentration camps, but his spells of rage frighten and embarrass her and she wonders why he obsesses over the dark past. During the family Seder, the ritual feast held at the Jewish holiday of Passover, Hannah is required to open the door for the prophet, Elijah. However, once she opens the door, she finds herself transported back in time. She is in a different house, in a different land. Everyone insists on calling her "Chaya." Hannah is confused: Chaya is her Jewish name—a name meaning “life,” but she is not this girl that everyone thinks she is. To Hannah’s horror, she also finds out that she is in Poland, and the year is 1942. No words of warning about what is in store for the Jews of Poland make any difference to her newly adopted family. It isn’t long before Hannah and the rest of the shtetl, or village, are taken to a concentration camp. There, Hannah begins to understand exactly why Grandpa Will cannot forget the war. She learns why it is important to remember the atrocities of the concentration camps. Even though Hannah now understands the gravity of the Holocaust, she feels powerless to prevent what lies in wait for the inhabitants of the concentration camp. Will she be able to survive? —Jacqueline Danziger-Russell
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