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The Old Brown Suitcase, an award winning book that has sold extraordinarily well both nationally and internationally, now appears in a new edition by Ronsdale Press. The novel narrates the absorbing story of a young girl who survived the Holocaust against all odds.At age fourteen, Slava comes to Canada with her parents and sister and a suitcase filled with memories of a lost childhood, memories that now haunt her new life. She cannot forget the hunger, stench and disease in the WarsawGhetto, nor the fear and humiliation of being incarcerated behind a high brick wall. She cannot forget her extraordinary escape from the Ghetto when she walked alone through the gate while the guards were looking the other way. Nor can she forget being swallowed up in a strange and unknown place to survive under a hidden identity.The story juxtaposes heart-wrenching scenes from a child's life in war-torn Poland with the life of a teenager trying to adjust to a new country in time of peace. InCanada, it is not easy for Slava to build a bridge between two cultures; nor is it easy to live with the turmoil of her immediate past. At the same time she must face the new challenges involved in being an immigrant, a Jew and a teenage girl. This new edition appends notes on the Warsaw ghetto and a bibliography for future reading.… (more)
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As for the story, I found the
This book is a true eye-opener -- not just to the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto in Nazi-occupied Poland, but to Canada's treatment of Jews as well.
The story itself takes place in 1947 Montreal, where Slava faces
Slava is an engaging, realistic character. The plot itself is almost equally engaging. Even if historical fiction isn't your thing, Slava's struggles with fitting in and her rebellion against her parents' more conservative ways are applicable to many teenagers today.
As for the story, I found the