Theme: Jew

The Lily Pond

By Book Importer | Published: December 12, 2011

A year after Stephie Steiner and her younger sister, Nellie, left Nazi-occupied Vienna, Stephie has finally adapted to life on the rugged Swedish island where she now lives. But more change awaits Stephie: her foster parents have allowed her to enroll in school on the mainland, in Goteberg. Stephie is eager to go. Not only [...]

Descriptors: Europe, Historical Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Sweden » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto

By Book Importer | Published: September 7, 2011

Paul B. Janeczko’s stirring new collection of poems goes inside the walls of the notorious camp to portray the indomitable spirit of those incarcerated there. Hitler hailed Terezin (Theresienstadt) as a haven for artistic Jews, when in reality the Czech concentration camp was little more than a way station to the gas chambers. In his [...]

Descriptors: Czech Republic, Europe, Poetry, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment

Under A Red Sky: Memoir Of A Childhood In Communist Romania

By Book Importer | Published: June 28, 2011

Eva Zimmermann is eight years old, and she has just discovered she is Jewish. Such is the life of an only child living in postwar Bucharest, a city that is changing in ever more frightening ways. Eva’s family, full of eccentric and opinionated adults, will do absolutely anything to keep her safe—even if it means [...]

Descriptors: Europe, Realistic Fiction, Romania, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , » Leave a comment

I Am Fifteen-And I Don’t Want To Die

By Book Importer | Published: June 28, 2011

Christine is only fifteen, and she’s caught in the middle of a war-torn city.  Huddled in the cold, dark cellar of their bombed-out apartment building, Christine and her family listen in fear as the battle rages over their heads.  They must get out of the city–but where will they go and how will they escape?  [...]

Descriptors: Europe, Poland, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , » Leave a comment

Stone Men

By Book Importer | Published: May 5, 2011

Grandma tells Arnie how a poor peddler saved a village from being destroyed by soldiers with the help of the stone men he always made on his journeys.

Descriptors: Early Years (ages 2-6), Europe, Fantasy, Picture Book, Russia » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

One More River

By Book Importer | Published: May 24, 2010

Lesley lives in Canada and thinks life is just great, she has got friends, she likes school and they are very comfortably off. But then her father makes a fateful decision, the whole family is going to emigrate to Israel and live a more fully Jewish life,Lesley is horrified and very resistant. However, once she [...]

Descriptors: Canada, Historical Fiction, Israel, Palestine, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , , » Leave a comment

Brave Deeds: How One Family Saved Many People from the Nazis

By Book Importer | Published: October 1, 2009

When Holland was under Nazi rule, the Dutch lived extremely harsh lives. Thousands were in hiding, especially Jews who had managed to escape transport to the death camps. Frans Braal and his wife Mies took in anyone in need of help — Jews, children whose parents could no longer look after them, resistance fighters, and [...]

Descriptors: Biography, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Netherlands » Other Themes: , , , , , , , » Leave a comment

But Can the Phoenix Sing?

By Book Importer | Published: October 1, 2009

Escaping the Warsaw Ghetto to a life of danger and freedom as a partisan in the forest of Parczew, fourteen-year-old Misha Edelman learns a harsh lesson about survival that parallels the story of the mythical phoenix.

Descriptors: Historical Fiction, Poland, Young Adult (ages 14-18) » Other Themes: , , , , , » Leave a comment

Built by Angels

By Book Importer | Published: October 1, 2009

As legend tells it, the Old-New Synagogue in Prague was built by angels, and later was home to a golem who remains locked away in the building to this day. In lyrical prose, Mark Podwal shares the story of the world’s oldest active synagogue, which was completed in 1270. Throughout the years, this sacred place [...]

Descriptors: Czech Republic, Early Years (ages 2-6), Historical Fiction, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9) » Other Themes: , , , , » Leave a comment

Escaping into the Night

By Book Importer | Published: October 1, 2009

Thirteen-year-old Halina Rudowski narrowly escapes the Polish ghetto and flees to the forest, where she is taken in by an encampment of Jews trying to survive World War II.Based on historical events, this gripping tale sheds light on a little-known aspect of the Holocaust: the underground forest encampments that saved several thousand Jews from the [...]

Descriptors: Historical Fiction, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Poland » Other Themes: , , , , , , , , » Leave a comment