What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
Query abandoned by poster
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ABANDONED. Nazi Survivor story - for the tween set
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I can think of two that are similar, but it has been a long time since I read them. Number the Stars
The Long Journey
Sorry, but I don't remember the authors. Hope this helps. - Misty
number the stars is by lois lowry but the children in it don't survive the concentration camps. maybe it's "the devil's arithmetic" by jane yolen, although that one involves a fantasy time travel bit so i don't think that's right.
what about "the hiding place" by corrie ten boom? that one is about an older woman, though, and you would have been a very sophisticated 10 year old to tackle it.
so... i offered suggestions, but i'm not sure about the accuracy or helpfulness of any of them... sorry!
Could the author have been Livia Bitton-Jackson? I Have Lived A Thousand Years wasn't published until 1997, but in 1980, she published a memoir called Elli: Coming of Age in the Holocaust. Elli has a mother and brother, survives the camps and later immigrates to the US after working with refugees to Israel for a while.
There are so many Holocaust memoirs that fit the description. We may need some more clues.
Perhaps The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig? She settled in NY and I used to see her volunteering at the NYPL.
Oh, I remember The Endless Steppe! Great book. But set in WWII Siberia, not in a Nazi concentration camp.
This could be The Big Lie by Isabella Leitner.From Publishers Weekly
Isabella Leitner has already made a valuable contribution to Holocaust literature with her Fragments of Isabella , an especially graceful memoir for adults that describes her wartime experiences. These included a traumatic deportation from her native Hungary, incarceration in Auschwitz and a death march from which she and two of her sisters escaped. Presenting this difficult material to children, Leitner focuses on the personal, saving a historical overview for an afterword (the afterword explains the title: Hitler's tactic of blaming the Jews for the catastrophic depression of 1933 was known as the "Method of the Big Lie"). Her approach allows readers to appreciate the young Isabella's incomprehension of the Final Solution even as she generates a coherent and compelling narrative. The inescapable horrors of Auschwitz are neither spared nor sensationalized. What is missing, however, are many of the telling details that make Leitner's adult work so affecting--and some other important details as well, such as the ages of Leitner and her siblings. If not quite as fully realized as Ruth Minsky Sender's The Cage and To Life , Leitner's book nonetheless conveys its message powerfully and responsibly. Illustrations not seen by PW. Ages 8-11.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Also good, but written more recently, is I Have Lived a Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust by Livia Bitton-Jackson.
Hope this helps,
Jackie
Oh wow. This is a great great site. Thanks for all the great suggestions although none are what I am looking for. I think I will have to check these ones out though.Unfortunately I read this book when I was 10 so I don't remember much about it. It's written FOR children in the style of a story more than a memoir, although the narrator of the story is the girl. I can't remember if her mother makes it. I want to say she doesn't.
The girl talks about how at first the Jews had to wear the arm bands and freedoms were slowly stripped away. Then they were put into camps. Then one night, they were taken to the trains and the boys and girls were separated. That's where she lost her brother. She talked about being starved and I want to say mentioned the gas chambers (the showers) and how you never knew if it was going to be a shower or if you weren't coming out.
I want to say she was rescued by some men on white horses (she said it was like in the fairy tales). She looked up and there was this man on a white horse telling her she was free. It was a big moment at the end. I believe they were Russian? But I'm not sure if I'm mixing this part up with other stories.
I know this is pretty much what a lot of concentration camp stories include. I'm sorry I can't even remember the name of the girl. The thing that struck me most was the line that the mother told her while they were in the camp "when there's life, there's hope." And that line helped her get through the darkest days. It also gave her hope that she might one day find her other family members.
Thanks for the help though!
Oh yeah, it had to have been written before 1984.
ok, what about "briar rose" by jane yolen?
No. That's not it. But I just put it on my to-read list. It sounds really good! Thanks Laura!
I've read Briar Rose by Jane Yolen, so I know you're right it's not the story you describe, but I thought it was a good story. Just wanted to say that, since you thought it sounded good :)
what about the book by Ruth Minsky Sender... The Cage. i haven't read it in a long time (and they may be a little more geared toward young adults than children) but i remember it was very much in story form.
I agree, I believe the book you are talking about is The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender. 
And if it's not The Cage, it might be I am Rosemarie by Maretta D Moskin...
Mod
But the main theme that her mother always told her was "when there's life, there's hope."
She survived and ended up living in the US.
I believe this is based on a true story, but not sure. It was incredibly written and I remember being very moved even as a 10 year old.
I've long forgotten the title, but if anyone could help, I'd appreciate it. I would love to hunt a copy down for my daughter.