Best Seller
Paperback
$15.99
Published on Jan 15, 2019 | 432 Pages
Jane Yolen, the bestselling and award-winning author of The Devil’s Arithmetic, returns to World War II and the Holocaust with this timely and necessary novel.
It’s 1942 in Poland, and the world is coming to pieces. At least that’s how it seems to Chaim and Gittel, twins whose lives feel like a fairy tale torn apart, with evil witches, forbidden forests, and dangerous ovens looming on the horizon. But in all darkness there is light, and the twins find it through Chaim’s poetry and the love they have for each other. Like the bright flame of a Yahrzeit candle, his words become a beacon of memory so that the children and grandchildren of survivors will never forget the atrocities that happened during the Holocaust.
Filled with brutality and despair, this is also a story of poetry and strength, in which a brother and sister lose everything but each other. Nearly thirty years after the publication of her award-winning and bestselling The Devil’s Arithmetic and Briar Rose, Yolen once again returns to World War II and captivates her readers with the authenticity and power of her words.
Perfect for fans of Markus Zuzak’s The Book Thief and Ruta Sepetys’s Salt to the Sea.
It’s 1942 in Poland, and the world is coming to pieces. At least that’s how it seems to Chaim and Gittel, twins whose lives feel like a fairy tale torn apart, with evil witches, forbidden forests, and dangerous ovens looming on the horizon. But in all darkness there is light, and the twins find it through Chaim’s poetry and the love they have for each other. Like the bright flame of a Yahrzeit candle, his words become a beacon of memory so that the children and grandchildren of survivors will never forget the atrocities that happened during the Holocaust.
Filled with brutality and despair, this is also a story of poetry and strength, in which a brother and sister lose everything but each other. Nearly thirty years after the publication of her award-winning and bestselling The Devil’s Arithmetic and Briar Rose, Yolen once again returns to World War II and captivates her readers with the authenticity and power of her words.
Perfect for fans of Markus Zuzak’s The Book Thief and Ruta Sepetys’s Salt to the Sea.
Author
Jane Yolen
Jane Yolen was an accomplished and awarded author and poet, with over 450 books published in her lifetime. She was born and raised in New York City. She attended Smith College, and received her master’s degree in education from the University of Massachusetts. She settled and raised her own family in Hatfield, Massachusetts, and spent parts of the year in Scotland as well. When she was not writing, Yolen composed songs, was a professional storyteller, and was the beloved mother of three children, and five grandchildren. Many of Yolen’s stories and poems were rooted in her sense of family and self. The Emperor and the Kite, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1983 for its intricate paper-cut illustrations by Ed Young, was based on Yolen’s relationship with her late father, who was an international kite-flying champion. Owl Moon, winner of the 1988 Caldecott Medal for John Schoenherr’s exquisite watercolors, was inspired by her husband’s interest in birding. The Devil’s Arithmetic, a National Jewish Book Award-winner and eventual movie, spoke to her own Jewish identity, interest in historical fiction, and her father’s service in WWII. Jane was generous of spirit, mentoring generations of children’s book authors with her expertise, her warmth, and her wonderful sense of humor. Jane passed away in 2026, but left behind a ubiquitous presence on children’s bookshelves and in hearts across the world.
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