The Devil's Arithmetic
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The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmtic is about contemporary teen Hannah, who's transported to the time of the Holocaust. Readers will understand the importance of keeping historical events alive as this book directly connects horrific past events to Hannah's life. It's a gripping story that brings readers face to face with the horrors of the Holocaust, including prisoners being beaten and shot, frank descriptions of Nazi concentration camps -- and the death of children.
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- Kids say
Multifaceted learning opportunity for older kids
Devils Arithmetic
AMAZING
What's the story?
As THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC begins, 13-year-old Hannah detests attending her family Seder. All the talk about remembering the Holocaust bores her until she finds herself transported to a Polish shtetl in 1942. There she joins the inhabitants as they're taken to a concentration camp. Through Hannah, readers find themselves in a grim four-day journey by boxcar to the concentration camp. In all that time Hannah gets one cup of dirty water to drink; she's packed in so tightly she can't move; with no toilet facilities, people simply soil themselves, adding to the intolerable odors. On the way, a child dies in her mother's arms and one of Hannah's new friends dies too. And that's just the beginning of the horror.
Is it any good?
This time-travel story, an excellent introduction to the Holocaust, has great power for young readers. In The Devil's Arithmetic, author Jane Yolen uses that attitude, and an intriguing time-travel plot device, to place a modern teen in a traumatic historical event, helping to bring history to life and directly connecting past events to the character's life.
Talk to your kids about ...
Families can talk about details of the Holocaust shown in The Devil's Arithemtic. Why do people still read and write about this horrible event? Why is it important to read stories like Hannah's?
This book was made into a movie starring Kirsten Dunst. If you've seen the movie, which is more powerful, the book or the film? If you haven't seen it, do you want to? How do most movies made from books fare?
What other stories of the Holocaust have you read or seen? How does this one compare?
Book details
- Author: Jane Yolen
- Genre: Historical Fiction
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Penguin Group
- Publication date: January 1, 1988
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 14
- Number of pages: 70
- Last updated: July 28, 2020
Our editors recommend
For kids who love history and Holocaust stories
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