Among the Living

Title: Among the Living
Author: Jonathan Rabb

This was a really well thought out book. I didn't mean to read another holocaust book so quickly but a glance at my library renew list showed that it is due today and cannot be renewed due to other holds on it.

So I read it today.

This is the story of a man named Yitzhak who is a survivor of the holocaust. After he gets out of a sanatorium he travels to Savannah, GA to find his last remaining relatives and start his life anew. Life blooms with a few hiccups along the way, and new love. Soon the least expected thing imaginable happens and he finds himself face to face with the girl he thought dead: his fiance from before the concentration camps.

This was a descent read. I rather liked it. 

Find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Among-Living-Jonathan-Rabb/dp/1590518039

ISBN: 978-159051803-8

ONCE

I'm a sucker for books having to do with the holocaust, so this is easily another one where the cover drew me to it.

Title: Once
Author: Morris Gleitzman

This is part of a trilogy, which I will be finding the other books in the series to read. It was a bit of a hard read for me because it is from the point of view of a very young child. That being said after you start reading it from that standpoint and block out any outside knowledge of the holocaust, it becomes a gripping tale of confusion and trying to look on the bright side of things.

The view point is that of a ten year old polish Jewish boy who has been sheltered thus far from the holocaust. He is living in a catholic orphanage waiting to be reunited with his parents during 1942.

Soon he runs away and embarks on his own, seeing through his unspoiled childs eyes, learning slowly the terrors of what lay in store for people who shared his faith. 

This is the story of a very strong little boy, and i'd say that it is safely juvenile fiction. It might be highly upsetting to children as they continue reading it though because as he starts realizing what is happening it all becomes very clear, the Nazi agenda. 

I really love that it is from the standpoint of such a young child. It really brings a whole new aspect to the reality of the holocaust and may even drive the point home more of: these were PEOPLE. People just like everyone else, who were singled out. To them, they were no different than anyone else. Just as if you were to have this happen. There would be no real understanding from your part, and definitely not from the children. It's terrible that it happened in the first place, but its a good lesson to look back upon so that we do not repeat our mistakes of the past. 

Find it here:  https://www.amazon.com/Once-Morris-Gleitzman/dp/0312653042

ISBN: 978-0-8050-9026-0