Twelve-year-old Hannah Stern is tired of her family’s constant focus on the past during Passover Seders, finding the stories of the Holocaust repetitive. While opening the door for the prophet Elijah, she is transported from modern New York to a Polish village in 1941. Occupying the body of a girl named Chaya, she is captured by Nazi soldiers and sent to a concentration camp. Hannah possesses the unique burden of knowing the historical future while enduring the daily starvation, labor, and selections of the camp. She eventually realizes that her survival and the survival of her family’s history depend on her willingness to trade her life for another.
Middle-grade and young adult readers use this book to understand the logistical and emotional realities of the Holocaust through a relatable protagonist. It serves as a narrative tool for teaching the concept of collective memory and the specific cultural traditions of Eastern European Jews. Readers walk away with a clear comprehension of how individual identities were stripped away in the camps and why survivors feel a moral obligation to repeat their stories to younger generations.
Balanced in tone; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1988
- Language
- EN
