The Devil’s Arithmetic
by Jane Yolen
Publisher: Puffin Books 1988 170 pages
Genre:Ages 9-12
Reading Level: Historical Fiction, and Holocaust
Summary:Hannah goes to his family’s Passover Seder and when she opens the door to symbolically let in Elijah and she is transported into a Polish village in the year 1942. Shortly after she arrives, everyone is packed into trucks by the Nazis. Next, they are loaded into baggage cars of a train, without food, water or toilets. A few people die along the way and they are transported to a prison work camp. They are stripped of all possessions, their heads are shaved and their clothes are taken from them. In order to survive, they organized a secret network to acquire the necessities of life. In the end, Hannah sacrifices herself in order to save another inmate. When this happened, she is transported back into the present.
Response: This book really gives insight about the concentration camps during the Holocaust. It really amazed just how much the prisoners relied on each other for their very survival.
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