The Devil's Arithmetic (Puffin Modern Classics)

by Jane Yolen

Paperback, 2004

Status

Available

Call number

J F YOL

Publication

Puffin Books (2004), Edition: 15630th, 176 pages

Description

Hannah resents the traditions of her Jewish heritage until time travel places her in the middle of a small Jewish village in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Barcode

5247

Awards

Nebula Award (Nominee — Novella — 1988)
Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — Children's — 1991)
Sydney Taylor Book Award (Winner — 1988)
Utah Beehive Book Award (Nominee — Children's Fiction — 1991)
World Fantasy Award (Nominee — Novella — 1989)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 4-8 — 1992)
National Jewish Book Award (Winner — Children's Literature — 1989)
Iowa Teen Award (Nominee — 1993)
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (Nominee — Chapter Books — 1992)
Maud Hart Lovelace Award (Winner — 1997)

Language

User reviews

LibraryThing member megacoupe
Hannah is a young Jewish girl who is bored with the seemingly pointless traditions of her heritage and the ranting and raving of her Holocaust survivor relatives. During the Passover Seder, she is asked to open the door for Elijah the Prophet and finds herself transported to a small Polish village
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in the 1940's.

Now known as Chaya, she is overwhelmed by the change in setting and wonders if her memories of a modern world are real or just a forgotten dream. At a wedding ceremony, the entire village is rounded up by Nazis and Hannah remembers the terrible things that are about to happen to the Jewish villagers.

Despite her pleas and protests, history continues to unfold in the same way and the journey of the villagers and Hannah to a concentration camp is described in vivid detail. Hannah is forced to experience the harsh conditions and inhumane treatment that her older relatives had described to her a lifetime ago. At the novel's grim climax, Hannah finally understands the importance of sacrifice, and subsequently, of remembering the horrible events of the past.

Although the subject matter is heavy, this is a great book for introducing young readers to the Holocaust. It is accurate in its details, seemingly derived from Primo Levi's "Survival in Auschwitz" (AKA, "Is This a Man?") and other sources. Yolen's narrative structure is very well-suited toward drawing in readers who might not be interested in the subject.
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LibraryThing member tiamatq
Hannah has better things to do that spend the annual Seder listening to her grandparents go on about the Holocaust. However, when she is chosen to perform the ritual of opening the door to welcome the prophet Elijah, she is transported back to Poland in the 1940s. Everyone calls her Chaya and she
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begins to forget about her life as Hannah. It isn’t long before Nazis take the small community to a concentration camp. While there, Chaya/Hannah becomes friends with Rivka, a 10-year-old girl who has lost everyone in her family except her brother. Rivka teaches Chaya and her friends the best ways to survive the horrors of the camp. However, no one is ever safe in the camps.

Writing about the Holocaust for children is especially difficult, given the disturbing subject matter and lack of reason. Yolen’s book is able to portray the insanity of life in the concentration camps while also showing how survivors maintained their individuality. Hannah/Chaya’s voice is wellwritten and, by having Hannah lose herself in Chaya’s life, Yolen creates a sense of suspense. Readers will learn about the Holocaust from Hannah’s experiences, but will also learn about the importance of remembrance.
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LibraryThing member Childrenslit
The Devil's Arithmetic is a great tool to intoduce children to the ugly reality of WWII. The child in the story is transported from the present to the past and becomes part of a concentrtin camp. In the end she understands why her gandparents are so angered and always remember and make a big deal
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out of celebrating life and rembering those who were lost.
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LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: Hannah is not looking forward to going to her family's Passover seder. Every year it's the same: her younger brother being annoying, food she doesn't much like, not much fun, and her Grandfather Will getting riled up about "the camps." But this year, the seder is very different, although
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not in a way that Hannah ever expected. When they get to the point of the Haggadah where Hannah goes to open the door for the prophet Ezekiel, what she finds is not the hallway of her grandparents' apartment building, but instead a field outside a small house in a Polish shtetl... and when she turns around, her family is gone, replaced with the small house and a woman who insists on calling her Chaya. Hannah is not sure whether this is a dream or reality, but as she learns more about where - and more specifically, when - she is, she begins to realize that they are all in terrible danger, since it's the year 1942, and they're in Nazi-occupied Poland. But what's the worse fate: not knowing about the atrocities committed at the concentration camps until its too late, or knowing, but being unable to do anything to change the future?

Review: This is another one of those books that, had it been handed to me when I was ten or twelve, I would have absolutely loved it. (Although I would have been completely lost during the scenes at the seder - I didn't have any close Jewish friends when I was growing up, and the first seder I ever attended was only a few years ago.) However, as an adult, and particularly an adult who's read a fair share of WWII / concentration-camp-centric books, it didn't have quite the same impact. I'm probably pretty jaded, but there are enough WWII novels out there that a new one has to have a pretty unique take on the subject in order to really capture my interest. While the time-travel aspect of The Devil's Arithmetic wasn't something I'd seen done before, it was also not really played up enough to make it stand out - this book felt primarily pitched as a historical fiction novel, with the time travel as a plot device rather than the focus.

That's not to say that it wasn't well done. I thought Yolen did a very nice job of depicting life both in the shtetl and in the camp; of presenting the horrors of the camps in an age-appropriate way, but without sugar-coating the details; and of balancing the darkness of the history with little pieces of light and life and love. It's a quick read, and one that I can definitely understand how it would stick with a person, and become a perennial favorite. Again, had my grade-school librarian handed me this at the same time as she handed me Lois Lowry's Number the Stars, I would have eaten it up... but at this point in my life, I just didn't feel like it had enough to say that I hadn't already heard. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Definitely recommended for the mid-grade readers in your life, particularly if they like historical fiction. For adults, it's a quick read, so worth picking up if you're interested in the time period.
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LibraryThing member ericarhenry
I really enjoyed this book. I read this for my historical fiction book and I thought it was a great story to teach children about the Holocaust, which is a difficult thing to convey to children I think. It starts with Hannah, a typical American teenager who is being dragged to Seder, which she
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doesn't want to go to. I think this is fairly typical. Then she is transported into the past and experiences the Holocaust herself. One of my favorite books as a young reader was "The DIary of Anne Frank". The Holocaust fascinated me when I was around 12-13. It was something that was so unbelievable and I think I wanted to understand it better. This book is another great one for kids of this age as a follow up to "The DIary of Anne Frank". It told the story from the point of a young girl. It was entertaining and Hannah or Chaya had interesting friends and told interesting stories. The only complaint I have about it, is that as an adult, right when the story was getting into a very serious side of the concentration camps and the Holocaust, Hannah was sent back into present time. As an older reader, I wanted more to the story, but I think the author cut it off at a good point for younger readers. It might have been a little too much for them if it went further into some of the more terrible things that happened. Overall, I think this is a great read and a very good book for the classroom.
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LibraryThing member beserene
I love almost anything from Jane Yolen. This particular book, not fancy and fantasy and fairy tale like many of her others, is deeply serious. At a Passover Seder, a young girl named Hannah opens the door for Elijah and is transported into the shoes of a girl named Chaya, in 1940's Poland. The book
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is the story of her transported experiences as a victim of the Nazi death camps. It's also about understanding and appreciation, about family, and ultimately about the importance of remembering the horrors of history. Though it is a more traditional narrative than recent treatments of the topic, such as The Book Thief, which I found to be both original in style and extraordinarily emotional, I think that still, today, Yolen's book should be read by every child, and every parent, and especially by those whose distance from tragedy makes them unwilling or unable to be tolerant.
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LibraryThing member thioviolight
This book was hard to put down; I read it in one sitting. It's one of the best I've read from Jane Yolen -- an excellent story-teller, one of my favorites! Beautifully written, the novel tells about a modern-day Jewish girl who travels into the past to experience the Holocaust first hand and
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understand the importance of remembering. Even the reader will take something home from this masterpiece.
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LibraryThing member MerryMary
A modern girl who doesn't appreciate the sacrifices of the Holocaust finds herself transported to a small Polish village just before the Nazis come. As she experiences all the horrors of the trainride, the camp, and the misery all around her, she develops an empathy with these people she lacked as
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a spoiled modern girl. She finds her way back to her own time through a heroic sacrifice, and is startled by her own change of attitude and appreciation for her family members who survived.
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LibraryThing member theresa2011
This is one of my favorite pieces of holocaust fiction. Chaya as a character is particularly poignant.
LibraryThing member hippieJ
omg this is such a great book. join chaya hannah on her "blast to the past" is she dreaming? did she let in the prophet elijah? only one way to find out! READ THE BOOK!
LibraryThing member Omrythea
Twelve year old Hannah grows tired of having to listen to her relatives recount Holocaust stories. Suddenly she finds herself transported back into a Jewish village terrorized by Nazis who take her and her family to a concentration camp.... Not the best Holocaust book in my opinion...
LibraryThing member blueeyedgoover
An absolutely wonderful book. All young adults should read this to understand... Extremely well done, I simply can not praise this enough.
LibraryThing member snapplechick
I love this book and reccommend it all. It is a deep and empowering book that is filled with emotion.
When Hannah is taken back in time, to the 1940's, she learns why you must remember the past. This book is one of my favorites and I absoulutly love it.
LibraryThing member Meijhen
Excellent book to connect young modern readers to the experiences of the concentration camps in the Holocaust. I believe this should be required reading for school-age children, along with Elie Weisel's work, and Diary of a Young Girl
LibraryThing member STBA
Hannah resents the traditions of her Jewish heritage until time travel places her in the middle of a small Jewish village in Nazi-occupied Poland.
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
Hannah, Jewish and living in New York, is bored with Passover, having to go to the Seder and taking part in the rituals, listening to the boring stories of her relatives while her friends enjoy Easter is just not something she wants to do. But she does. When she opens the door to let Elija in, she
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finds herself in Poland of the past. Poland during the war, Poland where the Jews are being rounded up like cattle to be brought to a concentration camp. While Hannah knows about whats going on she is dismissed.

It's a touching story, a story people should read, a story touch your heart and remind you how horrible things were.
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LibraryThing member flaguna
This book is about a young Jewish American girl, Hanna, who is less than enthusiastic about the traditions of her family. She feels forced to mime actions and words without understanding their significance. Her confusion has become apathy until a mysterious event changes her life. When openning the
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door to the apartment building, she suddenly finds that she's facing not the hallway but a vast field. For this point on she is no longer Hanna of New England but someone that will find her origins and the pain of her people. A book that makes you think...
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LibraryThing member dcwillis
The book that started my love affair with World War II and Holocaust fiction. I read this book for the first time in fifth grade and was instantly drawn in by the simplicity of the language, and the beauty of the story.

The book follows Hannah, a young girl who is sick of Passover and the bitter
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herbs that she has to eat instead of the jelly beans her friends get for Easter.

However, this Passover is different from all of the others.

Hannah is drawn into a world she has only heard about in family stories and is unable to warn the residents of a small village of what is to come.

The village is taken to a concentration camp and only Hannah knows what is in store for them.

The story is written very well, the characters are beautifully developed, and the ending is poignant.

In addition, I hear there is a movie but I have never seen it.
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LibraryThing member jopearson56
This was a nice little YA book, just my style with time travel presented in a very interesting way and good twists at the end. Probably would be a good book for a Jewish YA, who, like the protagonist in the book, has probably heard more than he or she ever cares to about the Holocaust and isn't
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seeing the importance or relevance to his or her life. Nicely done.
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LibraryThing member AnnaMarieOkie
Thirteen year old Hannah is transported back in time where she is known to everyone as Chaya. There she faces the horrors of the Holocaust in a very real way. Through it she develops deep friendships that withstand the worst of trials. Hannah develops a deeper understanding of what her ancestors
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went through. The characters within this book are very relatable to.

I loved this book as a young girl and still love it at this age. It helps give you a deeper understanding of what went on back then far better than any text book could portray. It would be great to tie into a history lesson with.

I would extend the application of this book by a trip to a WWII musuem or memorial. Possibly assign each student a real life person that was at a concentration camp and have them do research on their life and times.
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LibraryThing member kathy8997
Well written journey back in time--story about a Jewish girl who is tired of hearing her family talk about surviving the War (WW II) and doesn't want to dwell on the subject. During a religious tradition at her relatives' home, she opens a door--and finds herself in a village during the
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1940's--soon after she is surrounded by Nazis and taken to a work camp. Yolen tells this story creatively, through the American girl's eyes--she is confused as she experiences horrible injustices that seem so real. She realizes why her older relatives can't let go of the past.
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LibraryThing member trevordyett
Summary: Chaya is a young girl aged 16 by the end of the book. She is taken from her modern jewish life and whisked back to 1942 in Poland. She realizes that she is in the body of her aunt who was a concentration camp survivor. This tale detail some of the horror that was experienced by Jews during
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World War II. Chaya meets new friends, tests the willpower of her soul, and watches people die around her. A graphic book that shows a small piece of humanities horrible past.
Review: I was captured by this book. The characters were all believable and full of life. This book shows how quickly children can behave as mature adults when dire situations are presented to them. Extremely moving ending and I do recommend reading this book.
School Use: This book could be used as supplement to a World War II history lesson. Ann Frank would be the top choice to read, but The Devil's Arithmetic does show the same spirit of survival, humanity, horror, and willpower.
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LibraryThing member bnray
This is a great book about a young girl who is constantly telling her parents that she is tired of hearing about and remembering her Jewish heritage until she is magically thrown back in time and in turn lives through part of the Holocaust.
LibraryThing member Polo.Pony
I had to read this book for school and it turned out to be so good! When a girl is transported from a good time to the time of the Holocaust she has to learn, with the help of a new friend, all of the secrets of surviving in the Nazi's camps. This was such a wonderful book! Jane Yolen's writing in
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this story shows the reader how terrible the holocaust is. She even finds a way to mix humor in with the terrible time. I really liked this story and hope you will to!
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LibraryThing member kdebros
This was one of my favorite books as an adolescent. I was drawn to the sheer horror of it. A girl who complains about having to visit strange old relatives finds herself brought back in time and re-lives her grandparents experiences as Jews in Poland during the Holocaust.

ISBN

0142401099 / 9780142401095
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