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297th out of 7,927 books
—
39,682 voters
The Devil's Arithmetic
by
Jane Yolen
Hannah thinks tonight's Passover Seder will be the same as always. Little does she know that this year she will be mysteriously transported into the past where only she knows the horrors that await....more
Paperback, 170 pages
Published
April 12th 2004
by Puffin Books
(first published 1988)
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I wish I could say I liked this book. I thought I would. I know it's critically acclaimed and a well-known story. But it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
The book is meant to educate young people about the Holocaust, but it had a lot of historical inaccuracies. The idyllic shtetl world at the beginning of Chaya's story would have been long gone by 1942 -- by that time, all the Jews left alive in Poland were in ghettos, in concentration camps or in hiding. Lublin, the place Chaya supposedly c...more
The book is meant to educate young people about the Holocaust, but it had a lot of historical inaccuracies. The idyllic shtetl world at the beginning of Chaya's story would have been long gone by 1942 -- by that time, all the Jews left alive in Poland were in ghettos, in concentration camps or in hiding. Lublin, the place Chaya supposedly c...more
15 likes · like · see review
view all 31 comments
Summary: When Hannah opens the door during Passover Seder to symbolically welcome the profit Elijah, she suddenly finds herself in the unfamiliar world of a Polish village i the 1940's. Hannah had always complained about listening about listening to her relatives tell the same stories of the Holocaust over and over, but now she finds herself in terrifying situation. The Nazi soldiers have come to take the villagers away, and Hannah can guess where they are going.
Response: I loved this book. Bei...more
Response: I loved this book. Bei...more
2 likes · like · see review
Twelve year old Hannah is sick of spending Passover 'remembering' the past with her relatives. During the Passover Seder, she is transported to 1942 Poland, where she becomes Chaya (her Hebrew name), the girl she was named for. In this time, she is eventually sent to a concentration camp, where the bulk of the story takes place. Throughout the book, she struggles with memory - which memories are real (the future or the now), remembering anything b/c of the trauma of the camp, futilely trying to...more
Yolen employs a "Magic Tree House" trope to move her main character, Hannah, a bored American thirteen-year-old at her family's Seder dinner, through time, space and language, and it comes off as hokey. Once Hannah becomes Chaya, an orphan living in a Polish village in 1942, though, this tale grabs onto the reader and doesn't let go. Hannah opens the door of her family's apartment to welcome the prophet Elijah and is soon crammed into a crowded cattle car with other Jews on a train destined for...more
Sep 09, 2008
Becky
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everyone -- but especially teenagers that think they are the center of the universe! ;)
Recommended to Becky by:
Thrift store find
I wasn't really sure what to make of this book when I first saw it, but after having read it, I would say that I am glad that I did.
This is one of those books that really makes you look at things from a different perspective. I can relate to Hannah, because I remember being 13 and having little patience with traditions and customs, and just wanting to hang out with my friends.
But given the experience Hannah had, she was able to see things in a new way, and was granted a gift, even though it wa...more
This is one of those books that really makes you look at things from a different perspective. I can relate to Hannah, because I remember being 13 and having little patience with traditions and customs, and just wanting to hang out with my friends.
But given the experience Hannah had, she was able to see things in a new way, and was granted a gift, even though it wa...more
Jun 20, 2008
Lisa Vegan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everybody at least 12 and up
Shelves:
fiction,
time-travel,
reviewed,
childrens,
novel,
young-adult,
speculative-fiction,
historical-fiction,
holocaust
This is a marvelous book for young adults, although I wouldn’t recommend it as their first introduction to the holocaust because it portrays the atrocities committed in a starkly realistic way. And, unlike some young adult books that I enjoyed as young as nine or ten years old, I wouldn’t give this to kids until they were at least 12.
It is a wonderful story and, because the main character, an American Jewish girl who’s 12 years old, is from the present time (even though the book was written twen...more
It is a wonderful story and, because the main character, an American Jewish girl who’s 12 years old, is from the present time (even though the book was written twen...more
3 likes · like · see review
Nov 22, 2008
Lindsey
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Everyone
Recommended to Lindsey by:
My children's lit professor
Anyone and everyone should read this book! It's a very fast read because it was written for children but it tells a beautiful story and has a great twist in the end. The Devil's Arithmetic is about a young Jewish girl who doesn't quite understand her family's past. She finds Jewish holidays and celebrations to be boring and is unappreciative of the hardships Jews have faced. She is mysteriously transported to the past and ends up in a concentration camp. Here she suffers the hardships first hand...more
This book captivated me from beginning to end. The story flowed as if a conductor were actually standing before an entire band conducting a piece of music from Mozart. Such a strong story.
This book pre-dates Number the Stars, but is not to be missed. To understand the plight from a child's innocense is to begin to tap into your own heart about the matter...
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Dec 04, 2008
Sara
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Heather, Susan
Recommended to Sara by:
Elizabeth
Shelves:
i-love-these-books-so-much
This was really sad and scary. But so REALISTIC!! It's terrifying to think that it acually would happen! (Not the time traveling, the concentration camp.)
It is about a Jewish girl, Hannah, who is at a passover dinner, when she goes through a door and finds herself in 1942. Everyone knows who she is except herself. They think she is an orphan girl called Chaya, which is what her name is in some language. She makes five friends; Rachel, Shirfre, Ester, Yente, and Rivka. Rachel and Yente die on t...more
It is about a Jewish girl, Hannah, who is at a passover dinner, when she goes through a door and finds herself in 1942. Everyone knows who she is except herself. They think she is an orphan girl called Chaya, which is what her name is in some language. She makes five friends; Rachel, Shirfre, Ester, Yente, and Rivka. Rachel and Yente die on t...more
1 like · like · see review
WALKING THROUGH THE DOORS OF DEATH--OR LIFE!
This compelling novel about life in a Nazi concentration camp is starkly authentic, told from the viewpoint of a modern Jewish teenage girl who is mysteriously transported back in time. As in other stories of time travel, she struggles to retain her American and contemporary identity, and ultimately her life, for she has taken the place of another girl in Europe during World War II. How is it that she can instantly speak and understand Yiddish? Why do...more
This compelling novel about life in a Nazi concentration camp is starkly authentic, told from the viewpoint of a modern Jewish teenage girl who is mysteriously transported back in time. As in other stories of time travel, she struggles to retain her American and contemporary identity, and ultimately her life, for she has taken the place of another girl in Europe during World War II. How is it that she can instantly speak and understand Yiddish? Why do...more
What I like about the book was that it different from other holocaust book it a fiction book but at the same time you feels like it actually happened. When Hannah opened the door and when she looked outside of the door and was magically time traveled to the past when WWII happened. What I didn’t like about the book is that sometime it just got to boring that I dozed off. The plot for the book was that a young girl living in the concentration camps and how hard it is. Hannah and Rivka are the mai...more
I think I would give this book a 4 star book because Hannah really did not care about the Holocaust because it was a long time ago.
A. The things I liked about the book are that at the end of the book it was Hannah’s family that she was with.
B. Things I did not like about the book that so many people of her family member died
C. 1. The characters in the books are Hannah; Chaya which is also Hannah and RIvka, Gitl, Schmuel, Yitzcak and Fayge.
2. The one important scene in the book is that they nev...more
A. The things I liked about the book are that at the end of the book it was Hannah’s family that she was with.
B. Things I did not like about the book that so many people of her family member died
C. 1. The characters in the books are Hannah; Chaya which is also Hannah and RIvka, Gitl, Schmuel, Yitzcak and Fayge.
2. The one important scene in the book is that they nev...more
I like the book because it was exciting because Hannah went back in the past to Poland during the World War II. The ending was sweet because Hannah and her Aunt Eva started to talk about when Aunt Eva was in the camps.
I didn’t like the book because I wanted the book to get to the point. I thought it took too long to find out if Hannah would go back to the future to New Rochelle.
Characters: Hannah lives with her parent and brother. She is Jewish girl and some of her family members were in the H...more
I didn’t like the book because I wanted the book to get to the point. I thought it took too long to find out if Hannah would go back to the future to New Rochelle.
Characters: Hannah lives with her parent and brother. She is Jewish girl and some of her family members were in the H...more
1 like · like · see review
I picked up The Devils Arithmetic to read for school. I was expecting an every day Holocaust book told from a first person point of view, so as I read the first the first page I was surprised to find the book taking place in modern day New York City. The main character Hannah is on her way to another boring Passover Seder celebration with her family. When she is told to symbolically open the door at dinner to see if Elijah is coming, the book’s biggest twist occurs.
Soon you find yourself follo...more
Soon you find yourself follo...more
Jane Yolen: The Devil’s Arithmetic
In Jane Yolen’s book, The Devil’s Arithmetic, Hannah Stern is a twelve year old Jewish girl. Her family is getting ready to celebrate Passover; however, Hannah has a terrible attitude about it. She thinks it’s stupid, and she states over and over again, ‘I’m just tired of remembering.’ Once they arrive at the family gathering, Hannah is mistaken for performing an honorable deed, so her grandfather, Grandpa Will, decides to let her open the door to symbolically...more
In Jane Yolen’s book, The Devil’s Arithmetic, Hannah Stern is a twelve year old Jewish girl. Her family is getting ready to celebrate Passover; however, Hannah has a terrible attitude about it. She thinks it’s stupid, and she states over and over again, ‘I’m just tired of remembering.’ Once they arrive at the family gathering, Hannah is mistaken for performing an honorable deed, so her grandfather, Grandpa Will, decides to let her open the door to symbolically...more
Jane Yolen’s “The Devil’s Arithmetic” was a good read and had a great story. This book did however confuse me quite a bit in the first few chapters, but the confusion subsided near the end of the book. The plot of the story is very well laid out and gives you some fairly interesting moments. This book is set in world war two and reveals a lot about what was going on in Europe and explains what happened fairly well. This book started out pretty slowly and didn’t speed up until the middle of the b...more
The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen is book about a thirteen-year-old girl named Hannah who is not happy to go to her family's Passover Seder. Hannah is bored of her relative’s stories of the past. This year's Passover Seder is different because, when she opens the door to welcome the prophet Elijah she is mysteriously transported to a small Polish village in the year 1942. Everyone in the village calls her Chaya. While on the way to a wedding the villagers and Hannah are captured by Nazi soldi...more
Mar 25, 2013
Stephanie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
10th-grade-books-reviewed
Hannah, a young Jewish girl, has gone to see her family, but this is not all she sees. In the beginning of the book, Hannah does not understand the importance of her religion and how it should affect her life in the present day. As opening the, what I call, "the gate to the past," she sees goes back in time and tries to understand what the past was like for her ancestors and the other people just like her. She sees the Holocaust flash right before her eyes and she slowly begins to realize why he...more
This book is very entertaining. It is told from third person limited. Hannah is a girl from New Rochelle. Her family is at a Seder and she is told to open the door for the profit Elijah. Thinking that there would be no one there, like every year, Hannah did not think that her whole life would change from there on. After Hannah opened the door she is brought back in time where she is living with people shes never seen before. Gitl and Shmuel were her aunt and uncle. They called her Chaya. This st...more
This book was haunting and heartbreaking. Hannah is a typical thirteen year old girl rebelling against the desires of her parents. Her family is Jewish, and it's Passover time, but Hannah would rather have fun with her best friend eating Easter candy instead of going to Seder with her eccentric family. She is uncomfortable with her Grandpa Will's outbursts about his past, a past that she has learned about and is expected to remember--the Holocaust. Grandpa Will and his sister, Eva, are both surv...more
I have loved Jane Yolen's writing for years, but I had never read this one, nor did I really know anything about it. I picked it up at a thrift store just based on the fact that she was the author, but then I left it sitting on a shelf for months. Last night I picked it up and started reading. I read it straight through and could not put it down. I haven't done that with a book in a long time, not even a short YA book like this one. The book begins with Hannah and her family on their way to her...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
JF Yol
historical fiction, holocaust
ages 8 and up
Yolen attempts to answer those who question why the Holocaust should be remembered. Hannah, 12, is tired of remembering, and is embarrassed by her grandfather, who rants and raves at the mention of the Nazis. Her mother's explanations of how her grandparents and great-aunt lost all family and friends during that time have little effect. Then, during a Passover Seder, Hannah is chosen to open the door to welcome the prophet Elijah. As she does so...more
historical fiction, holocaust
ages 8 and up
Yolen attempts to answer those who question why the Holocaust should be remembered. Hannah, 12, is tired of remembering, and is embarrassed by her grandfather, who rants and raves at the mention of the Nazis. Her mother's explanations of how her grandparents and great-aunt lost all family and friends during that time have little effect. Then, during a Passover Seder, Hannah is chosen to open the door to welcome the prophet Elijah. As she does so...more
Main Characters: Hannah, Stern, Rivkah, Aaron, Chaya, Will
Setting: New York, Poland
POV: Narrator
Grade Level: 6-8th
Reading Level: Fountas-Pinnell – X
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Hannah is a young Jewish girl that isn’t interested in the stories that her relatives have about the past and her religion. Her religion isn’t something that interests her anymore either. She doesn’t know what is about to happen. She goes back in time to World War II, and they recognize her as Chaya. She is in Poland and the yea...more
Setting: New York, Poland
POV: Narrator
Grade Level: 6-8th
Reading Level: Fountas-Pinnell – X
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Hannah is a young Jewish girl that isn’t interested in the stories that her relatives have about the past and her religion. Her religion isn’t something that interests her anymore either. She doesn’t know what is about to happen. She goes back in time to World War II, and they recognize her as Chaya. She is in Poland and the yea...more
Historic Novel
Spoiler...
This book was hard for me to follow, i may not be a huge fan of history or historical novels and that could be the reason why i didnt even finish the book. I just really couldnt get into it. The author did a great job making the reader see what a tragic time the Holocaust was. She used her main character Hannah to go back in time to the period of time in which the holocaust was taking place traveling to a concentration camp. During the trip, Hannah traveled in a crowded b...more
Spoiler...
This book was hard for me to follow, i may not be a huge fan of history or historical novels and that could be the reason why i didnt even finish the book. I just really couldnt get into it. The author did a great job making the reader see what a tragic time the Holocaust was. She used her main character Hannah to go back in time to the period of time in which the holocaust was taking place traveling to a concentration camp. During the trip, Hannah traveled in a crowded b...more
Novel #6: I thought this was a very interesting book but I have to admit it was much different than I expected. The author was clearly trying to depict a young Jewish girl (twelve or thirteen) who does not truly appreciate/understand her family background. Since the book was written for kids it is a quick read, for the most part, however I somehow expected it to be a little bit different. I do not think he character was fully developed as she goes back into the past and escapes the present while...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Overall, I was not very impressed with this story due to the characterization of Hannah. At the age of thirteen, I believe Hannah should be able to appreciate her family history and traditions to some extent; however, Hannah is characterized as being very unappreciative and rude (which is shown through her interactions with her family members and her perceptions of the events around her). I realize that Yolen’s intent was to show how one must directly experience the pain and hardship to truly ga...more
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's The Name o...: Young adult holocaust gas chamber novel [s] | 7 | 22 | May 01, 2013 07:59pm | |
| Eugene McDonald Jr | 1 | 6 | Oct 02, 2012 08:06am | |
| 2 paragraph essay | 1 | 7 | Aug 21, 2012 05:58pm | |
| the devils arithmetic | 2 | 27 | May 05, 2012 10:56am | |
| Eight is Enough: The Devil's Arithmetic Book Club: Chapters 14-15 | 15 | 28 | Mar 30, 2012 12:44pm | |
| Eight is Enough: The Devil's Arithmetic Book Club: Chapters 12-13 | 10 | 20 | Mar 30, 2012 12:39pm |
Yolen was born at Beth Israel Hospital, the first child of Isabel Berlin and Will Hyatt Yolen. She and her family moved to California when she was young but returned to New York a few years later. After her younger brother was born, her father joined the army and served on the European front during WWII. Yolen spent her childhood taking piano lessons, ballet dancing and writing a neighborhood news...more
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“You are a name, not a number. Never forget that name, whatever they tell you here. You will always be Chaya--life--to me.”
—
18 people liked it
“We all have such stories. It is a brutal arithmetic. But I - I am alive. You are alive. As long as we breathe, we can see and hear. As long as we can remember, all those gone before are alive inside us.”
—
18 people liked it
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