Common Sense Media Review
By Rachel Sarah
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Twins' lives are torn apart in haunting Holocaust book.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
MAPPING THE BONES starts in 1942 in Poland with brother-and-sister twins who are barely surviving in the ghetto. Chaim is a poet who rarely speaks, and his sister, Gittel, recalls their story between chapters. They escape the ghetto and wander the wilderness, during nights "filled with terror, the sound of gunshot, a scream, the gleam of knives, the creak of a door that should have been locked, the nightmare darkness that closes its cold hand around your throat." This harrowing Hansel & Gretel tale is told through children's eyes, as they're held prisoner in a Nazi labor camp, trying to avoid the dangerous ovens looming on the horizon.
Is It Any Good?
This poetic, powerful story is disturbingly tragic and gripping. Mapping the Bones is not an easy read, but a compelling and necessary one. After the children escape the ghetto, they're separated from their parents and the story turns more graphic, as the second half of the book follows their capture by German soldiers and their struggles to survive in a labor camp, where they're subject to inhumane experiments.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the Holocaust is portrayed in Mapping the Bones. How is reading a story different from reading about facts in a history book?
What did you learn from Mapping the Bones about the impact that World War II had on families? What did you know about the war before reading this book? How can you find out more?
In her author's note, author Jane Yolen talks about the research she did to write this novel. This is the 365th book she has written! What do you think drew her to write such a harrowing story?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Historical Fiction
- Topics : Adventures , Family Stories ( Siblings ) , Friendship
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Philomel
- Publication date : March 5, 2018
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 17
- Number of pages : 432
- Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle, App
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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