Awards

• Commended for Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards (Fiction) 2024
• Commended for Sydney Taylor Book Award (Young Adult) 2024
• Winner of Golden Kite (Young Adult Fiction) 2024

Overview

From Michael L. Printz honoree & National Book Award finalist Elana K. Arnold comes the harrowing story of a young girl's struggle to survive the Holocaust in Romania. Frederieke Teitler and her older sister, Astra, live in a house, in a city, in a world divided. Their father ran out on them when Rieke was only six, leaving their mother a wreck and their grandfather as their only stable family. He's done his best to provide for them and shield them from antisemitism, but now, seven years later, being a Jew has become increasingly dangerous, even in their beloved home of Czernowitz, long considered a safe haven for Jewish people. And when Astra falls in love and starts pulling away from her, Rieke wonders if there's anything in her life she can count on--and, if so, if she has the power to hold on to it. Then--war breaks out in Europe. First the Russians, then the Germans, invade Czernowitz. Almost overnight, Rieke and Astra's world changes, and every day becomes a struggle: to keep their grandfather's business, to keep their home, to keep their lives. Rieke has long known that she exists in a world defined by those who have power and those who do not, and as those powers close in around her, she must decide whether holding on to her life might mean letting go of everything that has ever mattered to her--and if that's a choice she will even have the chance to make. Based on the true experiences of her grandmother's childhood in Holocaust-era Romania, award-winning author Elana K. Arnold weaves an unforgettable tale of love and loss in the darkest days of the twentieth century--and one young woman's will to survive them. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

Full Product Details

9798212698108

Table of Contents

Reviews

""A wrenching coming-of-age story."" -- ""Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"" ""Arnold's compelling and well-researched narrative...allows readers to truly feel how the horrors of war give the character many reasons to hate as well as to discover her enormous capacity to love."" -- ""Horn Book (starred review)"" ""Carlotta Brentan infuses this audio with all the emotional intensity it deserves...Brentan's narration does full justice to the heroine's reactions to the complex personal and political upheavals she encountered. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award."" -- ""AudioFile"" ""Extraordinary. This beautifully written novel...[should be] a first purchase for all teen collections."" -- ""Booklist (starred review)"" ""Illuminates a little-explored part of the Holocaust in -Romania. A must-read."" -- "" School Library Journal (starred review)"" ""Searing."" -- ""Publishers Weekly (starred review)""

Author Information

Elana K. Arnold is the award-winning author of many books for children and teens, including the Sydney Taylor and National Jewish Book Award winner The Blood Years, the Printz Honor winner Damsel, the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and the Global Read Aloud selection A Boy Called Bat. She lives in Long Beach, California, with her husband, two children, and a menagerie of animals. You can find her online at elanakarnold.com. Carlotta Brentan is a voice talent and audiobook narrator.

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