The Devil's Arithmetic - Softcover

Jane Yolen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1903015103 ISBN 13: 9781903015100

Publisher: Barn Owl Books London, 2001

Synopsis

When Hannah finds herself catapulted from modern New York to Poland in 1942, she realises that as a Jew she and her family and friends are in terrible danger. However, no one will believe Hannah when she warns of the horrors to come and history takes its course. A tale of courage, love and friendship that makes for a sobering and heart warming read.

About this title

About the Author:

Jane Yolen is one of America's most popular and prolific authors, writing everything from picture books to adult fiction. Jane was born in New York but now lives with her professor husband in a large white wooden house outside Northampton, Mass, where she had three children, now all grown up and obliging with a growing band of grandchildren. Every year Jane and her husband spend several months in St. Andrew's, Scotland. Jane has won every major prize in Children's Books in the U.S. and has been described as 'the American Hans Andersen'.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-8 In this novel, Yolen attempts to answer those who question why the Holocaust should be remembered. Hannah, 12, is tired of remembering, and is embarrassed by her grandfather, who rants and raves at the mention of the Nazis. Her mother's explanations of how her grandparents and great-aunt lost all family and friends during that time have little effect. Then, during a Passover Seder, Hannah is chosen to open the door to welcome the prophet Elijah. As she does so, she is transported to a village in Poland in the 1940s, where everyone thinks that she is Chaya, who has just recovered from a serious illness. She is captured by the Nazis and taken to a death camp, where she is befriended by a young girl named Rivka, who teaches her how to fight the dehumanizing processes of the camp and hold onto her identity. When at last their luck runs out and Rivka is chosen, Hannah/Chaya, in an almost impulsive act of self-sacrifice, goes in her stead. As the door to the gas chamber closes behind her, she is returned to the door of her grandparents' apartment, waiting for Elijah. Through Hannah, with her memories of the present and the past, Yolen does a fine job of illustrating the importance of remembering. She adds much to children's understanding of the effects of the Holocaust, which will reverberate throughout history, today and tomorrow. Susan M. Harding, Mesquite Public Library, Tex.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Barn Owl Books London
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1903015103
• ISBN 13: 9781903015100
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 166