Plot Summary
Hannah is tired of hearing her grandparents go on and on about the importance of her heritage. She is transported back to the time of the holocaust and finds herself in one of the concentration camps. There she is forced to face the reality that her grandparents had tried so hard to convey.
Personal Reaction
This is a difficult time period and subject matter to read about, however, I feel that it is addressed at a level that is appropriate for middle school children. The premise is a similar to Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, without the humor, where a character is transported to the past in order to learn an important lesson. I like the book, actually, anything that Jane Yolen writes, and would recommend it for the historical value.
Memorable Literary Element
Yolen does an incredible job of creating well-rounded characters that feel like they could step off the page. The protagonist, Hannah, is a perfect example of a round, dynamic character who learns a valuable lesson about history, tradition, and respect during the course of the story.
Illustrations
No illustrations
Hannah is tired of hearing her grandparents go on and on about the importance of her heritage. She is transported back to the time of the holocaust and finds herself in one of the concentration camps. There she is forced to face the reality that her grandparents had tried so hard to convey.
Personal Reaction
This is a difficult time period and subject matter to read about, however, I feel that it is addressed at a level that is appropriate for middle school children. The premise is a similar to Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, without the humor, where a character is transported to the past in order to learn an important lesson. I like the book, actually, anything that Jane Yolen writes, and would recommend it for the historical value.
Memorable Literary Element
Yolen does an incredible job of creating well-rounded characters that feel like they could step off the page. The protagonist, Hannah, is a perfect example of a round, dynamic character who learns a valuable lesson about history, tradition, and respect during the course of the story.
Illustrations
No illustrations
Review/Awards
Jewish Book Council Award & Association of Jewish Libraries - 1988
Sydney Taylor Book Award - 1988
School Library Journal - In this novel, 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, she is transported to a village in Poland in the 1940s, where everyone thinks that she is Chaya, who has just recovered from a serious illness. She is captured by the Nazis and taken to a death camp, where she is befriended by a young girl named Rivka, who teaches her how to fight the dehumanizing processes of the camp and hold onto her identity. When at last their luck runs out and Rivka is chosen, Hannah/Chaya, in an almost impulsive act of self-sacrifice, goes in her stead. As the door to the gas chamber closes behind her, she is returned to the door of her grandparents' apartment, waiting for Elijah. Through Hannah, with her memories of the present and the past, Yolen does a fine job of illustrating the importance of remembering. She adds much to children's understanding of the effects of the Holocaust, which will reverberate throughout history, today and tomorrow. Susan M. Harding, Mesquite Public Library, Tex.
Review"A triumphantly moving book."--Kirkus Reviews, pointer review
"[Yolen] adds much to understanding the effects of the Holocaust, which will reverberate throughout history, today and tomorrow."--SLJ, starred review
'When 12-year-old Hannah is transported back to a 1940's Polish village, she experiences the very horrors that had embarrassed and annoyed her when her elders related their Holocaust experiences."--Publishers Weekly
*STARRED REVIEW* “In this novel, 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, she is transported to a village in Poland in the 1940s, where everyone thinks that she is Chaya, who has just recovered from a serious illness. She is captured by the Nazis and taken to a death camp, where she is befriended by a young girl named Rivka, who teaches her how to fight the dehumanizing processes of the camp and hold onto her identity. When at last their luck runs out and Rivka is chosen, Hannah/Chaya, in an almost impulsive act of self-sacrifice, goes in her stead. As the door to the gas chamber closes behind her, she is returned to the door of her grandparents’ apartment, waiting for Elijah. Through Hannah, with her memories of the present and the past, Yolen does a fine job of illustrating the importance of remembering. She adds much to children’s understanding of the effects of the Holocaust, which will reverberate throughout history, today and tomorrow.”—School Library Journal
“Yolen has told a gripping tale that makes the abomination of the Holocaust more real for the juxtaposition of events of the past with the knowledge of the present. If one needs to know why, like Hannah, we must remember, we will understand better from the experience of this book.”–The New Advocate
“The books simplicity is its strength; no comment is needed because the facts speak for themselves. This brave and powerful book has much it can teach a young audience.”–Publishers Weekly
*STARRED REVIEW* “Yolen’s time-travel is cleverly orchestrated; her plot fits together like a carefully cut puzzle. And while some teenagers will be more caught up by its tidy perfection than by the horror Yolen seeks to convey, they will still come away with a sense of tragic history that both disturbs and compels.”–Booklist
“A Masterpiece: If any novel has ever deserved the Newbery, this is it. I do not cry often–or easily–but I cried and did not care when I read Yolen’s masterful Devil’s Arithmetic. . .one of those rare young adult novels which, while not exceeding the emotional and nintellectual range of its primary audience, is really for all of us.”–IAFA Newsletter
*STARRED REVIEW* “A triumphantly moving book . . . . ion less skillful hands, such a story would risk either being didactic or irreverent, but Yolen has so completely integrated her deep concern with the structure and movingly poetic language tof her story that the meaning shines clear.”—Kirkus Reviews
"[Readers] will come away with a sense of tragic history that both disturbs and compels." — Booklist
"Those who read this book will never forget; and, just as important, they will know why we must never forget. In a world that includes criminal governments like those that have slaughtered innocents in Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Chile, I would like to think that this generation of children will all read The Devil’s Arithmetic …" — Orson Scott Card in Fantasy & Science Fiction
In a very long review in the NY Times, November 1988, Cynthia Samuels, political producer of the Today Show, concluded: "This is a book parents should want to read first. And while many young people who read it may turn to their parents for interpretations and comfort, the story’s impact seems vastly different from that of, say, Elie Wiesel’s ”Night,” another book about the Holocaust they might encounter. His was a testament – an offering of evidence to a world that could not fathom such evil. Ms. Yolen’s novel is more of a bridge to the receding past, and it concludes on a note of redemption and love. Sooner or later all our children must know what happened in the days of the Holocaust. ”The Devil’s Arithmetic” offers an affecting way to begin."
Jewish Book Council Award & Association of Jewish Libraries - 1988
Sydney Taylor Book Award - 1988
School Library Journal - In this novel, 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, she is transported to a village in Poland in the 1940s, where everyone thinks that she is Chaya, who has just recovered from a serious illness. She is captured by the Nazis and taken to a death camp, where she is befriended by a young girl named Rivka, who teaches her how to fight the dehumanizing processes of the camp and hold onto her identity. When at last their luck runs out and Rivka is chosen, Hannah/Chaya, in an almost impulsive act of self-sacrifice, goes in her stead. As the door to the gas chamber closes behind her, she is returned to the door of her grandparents' apartment, waiting for Elijah. Through Hannah, with her memories of the present and the past, Yolen does a fine job of illustrating the importance of remembering. She adds much to children's understanding of the effects of the Holocaust, which will reverberate throughout history, today and tomorrow. Susan M. Harding, Mesquite Public Library, Tex.
Review"A triumphantly moving book."--Kirkus Reviews, pointer review
"[Yolen] adds much to understanding the effects of the Holocaust, which will reverberate throughout history, today and tomorrow."--SLJ, starred review
'When 12-year-old Hannah is transported back to a 1940's Polish village, she experiences the very horrors that had embarrassed and annoyed her when her elders related their Holocaust experiences."--Publishers Weekly
*STARRED REVIEW* “In this novel, 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, she is transported to a village in Poland in the 1940s, where everyone thinks that she is Chaya, who has just recovered from a serious illness. She is captured by the Nazis and taken to a death camp, where she is befriended by a young girl named Rivka, who teaches her how to fight the dehumanizing processes of the camp and hold onto her identity. When at last their luck runs out and Rivka is chosen, Hannah/Chaya, in an almost impulsive act of self-sacrifice, goes in her stead. As the door to the gas chamber closes behind her, she is returned to the door of her grandparents’ apartment, waiting for Elijah. Through Hannah, with her memories of the present and the past, Yolen does a fine job of illustrating the importance of remembering. She adds much to children’s understanding of the effects of the Holocaust, which will reverberate throughout history, today and tomorrow.”—School Library Journal
“Yolen has told a gripping tale that makes the abomination of the Holocaust more real for the juxtaposition of events of the past with the knowledge of the present. If one needs to know why, like Hannah, we must remember, we will understand better from the experience of this book.”–The New Advocate
“The books simplicity is its strength; no comment is needed because the facts speak for themselves. This brave and powerful book has much it can teach a young audience.”–Publishers Weekly
*STARRED REVIEW* “Yolen’s time-travel is cleverly orchestrated; her plot fits together like a carefully cut puzzle. And while some teenagers will be more caught up by its tidy perfection than by the horror Yolen seeks to convey, they will still come away with a sense of tragic history that both disturbs and compels.”–Booklist
“A Masterpiece: If any novel has ever deserved the Newbery, this is it. I do not cry often–or easily–but I cried and did not care when I read Yolen’s masterful Devil’s Arithmetic. . .one of those rare young adult novels which, while not exceeding the emotional and nintellectual range of its primary audience, is really for all of us.”–IAFA Newsletter
*STARRED REVIEW* “A triumphantly moving book . . . . ion less skillful hands, such a story would risk either being didactic or irreverent, but Yolen has so completely integrated her deep concern with the structure and movingly poetic language tof her story that the meaning shines clear.”—Kirkus Reviews
"[Readers] will come away with a sense of tragic history that both disturbs and compels." — Booklist
"Those who read this book will never forget; and, just as important, they will know why we must never forget. In a world that includes criminal governments like those that have slaughtered innocents in Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Chile, I would like to think that this generation of children will all read The Devil’s Arithmetic …" — Orson Scott Card in Fantasy & Science Fiction
In a very long review in the NY Times, November 1988, Cynthia Samuels, political producer of the Today Show, concluded: "This is a book parents should want to read first. And while many young people who read it may turn to their parents for interpretations and comfort, the story’s impact seems vastly different from that of, say, Elie Wiesel’s ”Night,” another book about the Holocaust they might encounter. His was a testament – an offering of evidence to a world that could not fathom such evil. Ms. Yolen’s novel is more of a bridge to the receding past, and it concludes on a note of redemption and love. Sooner or later all our children must know what happened in the days of the Holocaust. ”The Devil’s Arithmetic” offers an affecting way to begin."
Promotion Idea
Scholastic's interactive "Character Scrapbook" is a great way to engage students and help them form a deeper understanding of a book's characters. It works with almost any fiction or nonfiction book, and can be used individually or as a whole class.
Objectives:
Want to learn to write stories? Try a myth writing workshop with Jane Yolen. Click here.
Scholastic's interactive "Character Scrapbook" is a great way to engage students and help them form a deeper understanding of a book's characters. It works with almost any fiction or nonfiction book, and can be used individually or as a whole class.
Objectives:
- Discuss and identify different types of character traits for characters in a fiction or nonfiction book
- Generate lists of traits about a specific character in a book that the class or student is reading
- Create a scrapbook featuring a personalized image and character traits of the character.
Want to learn to write stories? Try a myth writing workshop with Jane Yolen. Click here.