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Powell's Q&A, Q&A | June 29, 2009

Janna Cawrse Esarey: IMG Powell's Q&A: Janna Cawrse Esarey

0 comments By Janna Cawrse Esarey

"I fell in love with Crosby, Stills, and Nash's song 'Southern Cross' when I was fifteen. By the time I got to college, 'I'm going to sail around the world someday' was sort of my pickup line." Continue »
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    The Motion of the Ocean: 1 Small Boat, 2 Average Lovers, and a Woman's Search for the Meaning of Wife

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The Devil's Arithmetic

by Jane Yolen

The Devil's Arithmetic Cover

ISBN13: 9780140345353
ISBN10: 0140345353
Condition: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Hannah dreads going to her family's Passover Seder — she's tired of hearing her relatives talk about the past. But when she opens the front door to symbolically welcome the prophet Elijah, she's transported to a Polish village in the year 1942, where she becomes caught up in the tragedy of the time.

Review:

"Readers will come away with a sense of tragic history that both disturbs and compels." Booklist

Synopsis:

Hannah is tired of hearing about the Nazis during the Holocaust, but when she opens the door for Elijah at the Passover Seder, she is transported in time to 1940s Poland, where she is captured and put in a death camp. A girl named Rivka befriends her, teaching her how to fight the dehumanization of the camp and hold onto her identity.

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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 3 comments:
Jena, May 27, 2009 (view all comments by Jena)
For as complicated as the Holocaust was, Yolen manages to compress a considerable amount of the horror into these pages meant for readers of 10-12 years of age.
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crowyhead, March 27, 2007 (view all comments by crowyhead)
At first I had trouble getting into this novel, since I'm usually impatient with time-travel-esque storylines. Once I got a couple chapters in, though, I was utterly swept up in the story.

12-year-old Hannah Stern is frustrated with her family's insistence on remembering the Holocaust -- she's embarrassed when her grandfather becomes angry and yells in Yiddish at the mention of Nazis, and she doesn't understand why they must spend so much time "dwelling" on it. This changes when she is transported back in time and takes on the life of Chaya, a Jewish girl who is confined to a death camp.

The strength of this novel is its simplicity. Yolen is a skillful storyteller, and she knows that when it comes to events like the Holocaust, the events and experiences speak for themselves. It feels strange to say that I "enjoyed" this book, but the truth is, Yolen tells the truth so well that it allows you to taste the kernels of bravery and beauty within the bitterness of the events described.
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BarnBabeB, June 6, 2006 (view all comments by BarnBabeB)
This Book was a great book to read and if you are wondering about what happened in the time of WW2 then you should read this book! When I was reading this book it made me feel upset and I think that none of that should have happened to the jews just because the were different.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780140345353
Author:
Yolen, Jane
Publisher:
Puffin Books
Location:
New York, N.Y., U.S.A. :
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
Children's 9-12 - Fiction - General
Subject:
Jews
Subject:
Poland
Subject:
Ethnic - Other
Subject:
Historical - Holocaust
Subject:
People & Places - Other
Subject:
Time travel
Subject:
Concentration camps
Subject:
Time travel -- Fiction.
Subject:
People & Places - United States - Other
Subject:
Historical - General
Series Volume:
74
Publication Date:
October 1990
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
Children/juvenile
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
170
Dimensions:
7.76x5.03x.47 in. .31 lbs.
Age Level:
10-14
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