Reviewed by Olivia
Rating: High Four
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of NUMBER THE STARS and SNOW TREASURE
Synopsis:
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. Why is she there, and who is this "Chaya" that everyone seems to think she is? Just as she begins to unravel the mystery, Nazi soldiers come to take everyone in the village away. And only Hannah knows the unspeakable horrors that await.
Rating: High Four
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of NUMBER THE STARS and SNOW TREASURE
Synopsis:
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. Why is she there, and who is this "Chaya" that everyone seems to think she is? Just as she begins to unravel the mystery, Nazi soldiers come to take everyone in the village away. And only Hannah knows the unspeakable horrors that await.
My Thoughts: This book was instantly appealing to me. I'm Jewish, and so I'm always looking for more books from a jews' POV during WW2 (my parents keep telling me to read Anne Frank, I've just never gotten around to it). Anyways, THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC met and exceeded my expectations. Although it was a shorter book, I still felt like some parts could have been taken more advantage of. However, I still really liked Chaya, Rivka, and especially Gitl. This book easily could've been way too dark and harsh of a story for kids to connect with efficiently, but the characters kept it upbeat and a lighter read. I was touched and felt tears pricking my eyes near the end of the story; the tear-jerking, hair-ripping thing about this book is that we all know what's going to happen, we just are kept on suspense the entire time until it does. I thought the story was really clever with the plot line. The writing didn't really connect with me, except at the end (how COULDN'T you be connected with that?). To be honest, I really only liked the storyline, which was incredible. I would recommend to most but with caution - it's a hard subject to handle and to go into depth with and you might not get into the story. Overall, I really enjoyed this as a short, informative, touching read.
(I'm looking through the categories section right now and am wishing so MUCH that this was a dystopia D':)
(I'm looking through the categories section right now and am wishing so MUCH that this was a dystopia D':)
