New Releases by Kathy Kacer

The moving, award-winning Canada Reads book from Holocaust survivor Max Eisen, now adapted for young readers Tibor “Max” Eisen was born in Czechoslovakia into an Orthodox Jewish family. He lived in a compound with his parents, his two younger brothers, his baby sister, his paternal grandparents and his uncle and aunt. Life was far from perfect, but it was relatively peaceful. But in the spring of 1944—the morning after the family’s Passover Seder—officers forcibly removed Eisen and his family from their home. They, and thousands of other Jewish people, were brought to a brickyard and later loaded onto crowded cattle cars bound for the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Fifteen-year-old Max lost his entire family, but he survived the selection process and went on to endure back-breaking slave labour and the infamous Death March in January 1945. Max eventually survived his painful ordeal. And he knew he had to keep the very last promise he made to his father: to tell the world what happened at Auschwitz. By Chance Alone is the result of this promise.

In 1945, young Francine and her maman are sent to the Bergen-Belsen Nazi prison camp, where life is gray and hopeless. Determined to lift Francine’s spirits, Maman shares a secret: hidden inside her bag are two pieces of chocolate. They’re the first sweets Francine has seen in years, but Maman tells her not to eat them. “One day, when I see that you really need them...that’s when I’ll give the chocolates to you.” When Francine meets Hélène, a fellow prisoner, she learns another secret: Hélène is pregnant. But there is very little food in the camp, and even less hope. Hélène and her baby are in grave danger. Remembering the chocolates, Francine realizes she may be able to help. Francine’s act of kindness will make ripples in their lives for decades to come. Inspired by a remarkable true story.

Conheça a história de Gabi, uma garota judia que vivia com seus pais em uma comunidade rural até que os nazistas invadem a Tchecoslováquia. Quando surgem rumores de que as meninas judias estão sendo levadas para longe de suas famílias, o que Gabi pode fazer? Inspirados em fatos reais, esse livro é uma ficção histórica dramática, para jovens a partir de 12 anos.

Irene grew up traveling around Germany with her family’s circus, surrounded by her loved ones and thrilling the crowds with her performance on the high wire...until one day, the audience boos. The Lorch family is Jewish, and the increasing power of Adolf Hitler’s Nazis has put them all in grave danger. When the circus is forced to shut down and Irene’s father is taken away, Irene and her mother must go into hiding with another circus. Every day is a frightening new kind of balancing act, caught between the desire to perform and the need to hide—even in plain sight.

It’s 1938 in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Paul is feeling pressured to join the Hitler Youth. The last thing he wants to do is march around with a bunch of bullies, supporting the Gestapo and abusing the city’s Jews, but even Paul’s parents think he should go along with his classmates in order to keep himself safe. Just when he’s starting to despair, Paul meets the Edelweiss Pirates, a group of teenage boys and girls who are working to undermine the growing power of the Nazis. When he joins the rebel organization, he finds out just how hair-raising and dangerous it is to sabotage the Third Reich and rescue Jews wherever they can. But choices have consequences, and during the terrifying violence of Kristallnacht, Paul must step out of the shadows and make a life-changing decision. Inspired by the true story of the Edelweiss Pirates, a group that declared “Eternal War on the Hitler Youth,” Under the Iron Bridge is a tale of courage in the face of cruelty.

History is made one brave act at a time. Henny has grown up with her father’s boat, the Gerda III, as a home away from home. She loves sailing the waters between Denmark and Sweden, carried along by the salt breeze. But when Nazi rule tightens in Copenhagen, Henny joins the resistance. And when Hitler orders the Gestapo to round up all Jewish citizens, Henny realizes that the Gerda III isn’t just a boat—it’s a means of escape for her Jewish neighbours. Safety and freedom are just across the channel in Sweden—as long as Henny doesn’t get caught. The fourth book in Kathy Kacer’s Heroes Quartet series, Call Across the Sea brings to life a little-known part of World War II and highlights the unsung acts of heroism that moved history forward.

It is 1939 in Berlin, Germany, and twelve-year-old Lillian and her Papa are on the run from Nazi soldiers. Because they are Jewish, they are in danger of being arrested and put in prison. Lillian''s father is blind and it seems no one is willing to help them, until they meet Otto Weidt. Mr. Weidt runs a factory that makes brushes for the Nazi army, and his secret is that he employs blind Jewish workers. Lillian soon learns that Otto Weidt is determined to keep her, Papa, and all the Jewish workers safe. But will he be able to? Inspired by a true story.

Lily e sua família chegam a Xangai em 1938, fugindo da perseguição nazista em Viena. Em seu novo lar, eles terão que se adaptar a uma vida muito dura, em que fome, miséria, doenças e perseguições estão por toda parte. As coisas ficam ainda piores quando os japoneses obrigam os refugiados judeus a se mudarem para o gueto de Hongkew. Mas Lily e sua família encaram todos os desafios com muita coragem, acreditam sempre que, se eles se mantiverem unidos, tudo ficará bem.

Em "Os repórteres clandestinos", um dos acontecimentos mais complexos e sombrios da História, o antissemitismo da II Guerra Mundial, é traduzido para jovens leitores a partir da experiência real de um grupo de crianças judias de uma pequena cidade da antiga Tchecoslováquia. Quando o exército nazista impõe o regime de segregação sobre essa comunidade, o modo encontrado por essas crianças para se manterem fortes e unirem suas famílias é a publicação de um jornal dirigido à comunidade judaica.

Clara, com apenas 13 anos, e sua família são mandados para uma cidade europeia chamada Terezin, onde são obrigados, junto a muitos judeus, a se submeter às novas regras e condições de vida impostas pelos nazistas. Diariamente, eles têm que lidar com condições precárias e ameaçadoras, além do medo da punição e da deportação para campos de extermínio. Entretanto, como forma de distrair os judeus, os nazistas permitem a existência de um espaço cultural envolvendo música e outras produções artísticas. É nesse duro contexto que Clara aprende o verdadeiro valor da amizade.

Um misterioso diário une Laura, uma menina que vive nos dias de hoje, a Sara, uma menina judia lutando para sobreviver durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial. Laura tem apenas três semanas até a sua cerimônia judia de "passagem para a vida adulta", chamada bat mitzvah, quando recebe um projeto especial. Ela deve ler o diário de Sara Gittler, uma jovem garota da sua idade que foi presa pelos nazistas no Gueto de Varsóvia, durante o Holocausto. Sara nunca pôde celebrar a sua passagem para a vida adulta, assim, Laura tem que conhecer a história de Sara e, depois, compartilhar seu bat mitzvah com sua "gêmea", falando dela na cerimônia. Relutante em assumir esse projeto no início, Laura rapidamente é envolvida pela luta de Sara pela sobrevivência. O diário de Sara revela os detalhes do seu dia a dia no gueto, um mundo cheio de medo, confusão, tragédia e, acima de tudo, coragem. Com a história de coragem de Sara, Laura aprende como encontrar sua própria coragem para enfrentar a possibilidade de uma de suas amigas estar envolvida na violação de um cemitério judeu. Inclui fotografias, biografias de jovens heróis do Levante do Gueto de Varsóvia e relatos reais de "cerimônias de gêmeos".

Heroic actions speak volumes in a powerful middle grade novel based on real WWII events. Life is becoming ever more terrifying for the Jewish community as the Second World War envelops their lives. For twelve-year-old Dina and her sisters, things get even harder when their father dies. Their mother must go back to work and despite many objections, the family adjusts to the arrival of their new housekeeper, Nina, who is not Jewish. But Nina’s role changes dramatically when the Nazis invade their small Ukrainian town. Nina sacrifices her own safety to make sure the children she has come to love are kept from the clutches of the Nazis, and Dina comes to depend on her in a way she never imagined she would. The third novel in Kathy Kacer’s acclaimed Heroes Quartet series, Louder Than Words is based on the true story of one woman’s incredible heroism in the most dangerous of circumstances. It is a another affecting testament to the unsung heroes of World War II who, at great personal risk, saved the lives of strangers.

A violin and a middle-school musical unleash a dark family secret in this moving story by an award-winning author duo. For fans of The Devil''s Arithmetic and Hana''s Suitcase. It''s 2002. In the aftermath of the twin towers -- and the death of her beloved grandmother -- Shirli Berman is intent on moving forward. The best singer in her junior high, she auditions for the lead role in Fiddler on the Roof, but is crushed to learn that she''s been given the part of the old Jewish mother in the musical rather than the coveted part of the sister. But there is an upside: her "husband" is none other than Ben Morgan, the cutest and most popular boy in the school. Deciding to throw herself into the role, she rummages in her grandfather''s attic for some props. There, she discovers an old violin in the corner -- strange, since her Zayde has never seemed to like music, never even going to any of her recitals. Showing it to her grandfather unleashes an anger in him she has never seen before, and while she is frightened of what it might mean, Shirli keeps trying to connect with her Zayde and discover the awful reason behind his anger. A long-kept family secret spills out, and Shirli learns the true power of music, both terrible and wonderful.

The dual language edition, in Nishnaabemwin (Ojibwe) Nbisiing dialect and English, of the award-winning I Am Not a Number. When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school she is confused, frightened, and terribly homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from, despite the efforts of the nuns who are in charge at the school and who tell her that she is not to use her own name but instead use the number they have assigned to her. When she goes home for summer holidays, Irene''s parents decide never to send her and her brothers away again. But where will they hide? And what will happen when her parents disobey the law? Based on the life of co-author Jenny Kay Dupuis’ grandmother, I Am Not a Number is a hugely necessary book that brings a terrible part of Canada’s history to light in a way that children can learn from and relate to.

Silence can be powerful. Kathy Kacer’s second book in her middle grade series about heroic rescues during WWII tells the tale of siblings Helen and Henry, and history’s most famous mime. Desperate to save them from the Nazis, Henry and Helen’s mother makes the harrowing decision to take her children from their home in 1940s Germany and leave them in the care of strangers in France. The brother and sister must hide their Jewish identity to pass for orphans being fostered at a convent in the foreign land. Visits from a local mime become the children’s one source of joy, especially for Henry, whose traumatic experience has left him a selective mute. When an informer gives them up, the children are forced to flee yet again from the Nazis, but this time the local mime—a not yet famous Marcel Marceau—risks everything to try to save the children. Masters of Silence shows award-winning author Kathy Kacer at the top of her craft, bringing to light the little-known story of Marceau’s heroic work for the French Resistance. Marceau would go on to save hundreds of children from Nazi concentration camps and death during WWII. In characteristic Kacer style, Masters of Silence is dramatic and engaging, and highlights the courage of both those rescuing and the rescued themselves. Wenting Li’s chapter heading illustrations and evocative covers provide the perfect visuals for the series.

Anna and her family have only one hope left to escape certain doom. It’s 1936 and life is becoming dangerous for the Jews of Krakow. As incidents of violence and persecution increase day by day, Anna begs her father to leave Poland, but he insists it’s impossible. How could he give up his position as an acclaimed clarinetist in the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra? When Anna and her father barely escape from a group of violent thugs, it becomes clear that the family must leave. But how? There seems to be only one possibility. Bronislaw Huberman, a world-renowned violinist, is auditioning Jewish musicians for a new orchestra in Palestine. If accepted, they and their families will receive exit visas. Anna and her grandmother boldly write to Huberman asking him to give Anna’s father an audition, but will that be enough to save them? This poignant story is based on real events in pre-war Poland and Palestine. After saving seven hundred Jews and their families, Huberman went on to establish what later became the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Against an ominous background of the impending Holocaust in Europe and the first Arab-Israeli war, The Sound of Freedom still manages to remind the reader of the goodness in the world.

The true story of nineteen-year-old Jordana Lebowitz’s time at the trial of Oskar Groening, known as the "bookkeeper of Auschwitz", a man charged with being complicit in the deaths of more than 300,000 Jews. A granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, Jordana was still not prepared for what she would see and hear. Listening to Groening’s testimony and to the Holocaust survivors who came to testify against him, Jordana felt the weight of being witness to history – a history that we need to remember now more than ever.

When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school she is confused, frightened, and terribly homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from, despite the efforts of the nuns who are in charge at the school and who tell her that she is not to use her own name but instead use the number they have assigned to her. When she goes home for summer holidays, Irene''s parents decide never to send her and her brothers away again. But where will they hide? And what will happen when her parents disobey the law? Based on the life of co-author Jenny Kay Dupuis’ grandmother, I Am Not a Number is a hugely necessary book that brings a terrible part of Canada’s history to light in a way that children can learn from and relate to.

In this YA novel, Sara arrives in Germany determined to explore her newly discovered Jewish heritage and solve the mystery of her parentage.

In early June, 1964, the Benevolent Home for Necessitous Girls burns to the ground and its vulnerable residents are thrust out into the world. The orphans, who know no other home, find their lives changed in an instant. Arrangements are made for the youngest residents, but the seven oldest girls are sent on their way with little more than a clue or two to their past and the hope of learning about the families they have never known. On their own for the first time in their lives, they are about to experience the world in ways they never imagined. Bestselling authors Kelley Armstrong, Vicki Grant, Marthe Jocelyn, Kathy Kacer, Norah McClintock, Teresa Toten and Eric Walters teamed up to create this series of linked YA novels. Readers can discover all seven Secrets in any order in this thrilling collection. This collection includes the seven following titles: The Unquiet Past Small Bones A Big Dose of Lucky Stones on a Grave My Life Before Me Shattered Glass Innocent

A young boy, all alone amid the horrors of Auschwitz, finds an unlikely friend in the form of a magician who changes his life and his future.

Shanghai, China is a strange place for a young Jewish girl from ViennaÉ But that is where Lily Toufar finds herself in 1938. She and her family have left their home to find safety far away from Europe, where Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party are making life unbearable for Jews. TheyÕve had to travel fast Ð Lily even had to leave behind most of her toys and books Ð but here she feels free from danger. Despite their hopes, it quickly turns out that all is not safe in Shanghai. Now that the area is controlled by Japan, whose leaders support Hitler, the local government orders Jewish refugees, including Lily and her family, to move into a ghetto in an area of the city called Hongkew. Once again Lily wonders what will happen next. Life changes for Lily and her family when they are forced to the over-crowded ghetto. There is little food to eat, and many people become sick. Lily remains hopeful, but when rumors begin to circulate that Jews may be in as much danger here as they were in Europe, she wonders if she will ever feel truly safe and at home again. Based on a true story.

Sol e Lisa são duas crianças a bordo do St. Louis, um navio cheio de passageiros judeus que fogem da Europa para salvar suas vidas. O St. Louis, um luxuoso transatlântico, deixa a Alemanha em 1939, levando seus quase mil passageiros para um porto seguro do outro lado do oceano. Eles terão a chance de recomeçar a vida em países como Cuba e Estados Unidos, longe do regime nazista antissemita. Lisa e sua família ocupam uma grande cabine na primeira classe, enquanto Sol e seus pais estão lá embaixo na classe turística. Eles não se conhecem, mas compartilham uma mistura de sentimentos: animação por estar cruzando o oceano, esperança no futuro e tristeza por estar deixando tudo para trás. O otimismo de Sol e Lisa é ameaçado quando o navio é impedido de atracar no porto em Cuba. Será que as crianças terão outra chance de refúgio? Ou será que, em outros portos, um futuro sombrio pode estar à espera delas?

Do young people today find meaning in the Holocaust? That''s the question that prompted a writing project across North America, Italy, and Australia asking young people to share their ideas about this time in history. Some students wrote short stories. Some discussed the impact of books they had read and wrote about the messages that they understood from these books. Several interviewed survivors and recorded their impressions. Many talked about how they have tried to make sense of this history in the world in which they now live. Others created works of art. Children wrote from their hearts with sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and great insight. Their teachers saw this opportunity as a gift, and it proves to all that young people can make a meaningful connection to the Holocaust. Their contributions give hope for a more peaceful and tolerant future.

Lisa and Sol board the luxury ocean liner St. Louis in Hamburg, Germany on May 13, 1939. Lisa and her family are in first class; Sol and his parents are below in tourist class. Both children have mixed feelings Ð theyÕre excited to be beginning this voyage to a better life, but sad to be leaving their old lives behind. They are Jewish, as are almost all of the 937 passengers on board, and although war has not been officially declared in Europe, the Nazis have been persecuting Jews for years. As the ship sets sail for Cuba, the atmosphere is optimistic. The passengers feel fortunate to have been able to buy landing permits, and their German captain, Gustave Shru009ader, is determined to get them to safety. The captainÕs voice alternates with Sol and LisaÕs, revealing the details they didnÕt know. As HitlerÕs propaganda machine turns Cuba against them, the mood on board changes to despair. The St. Louis and its Jewish passengers are turned away Ð first from Cuba, then the United States, and then Canada. This was the tragic true history of the St. Louis. Denied entry from port after port, the captain was forced to return his passengers to Europe, where many died in the Holocaust. Through the eyes of Sol and Lisa Ð both of whom survived the war and shared their experiences with Kathy Kacer Ð we see the injustice and heartbreak that were caused by the prejudice and ignorance of so many.

Based on the true story of a Jewish family''s fight to regain a symbol of their lost life, Restitution begins in Prague on the eve of the Nazi invasion. The Reesers know that they must flee Czechoslovakia, but first they deliver their valuable oil paintings into the hands of a Christian colleague for safekeeping. Led by their intrepid matriarch, Mari Reeser, the family make their escape under the nose of the Nazis, arriving in Canada just days before WWII begins. Despite a successful new life in Toronto, the Reesers never forgot what was left behind. When peace returned to Europe, Mari fought for the return of the paintings, only to be thwarted by the Communist regime. Hope sparked again in 1989 when Mari''s son, Karl Reeser, received a letter saying the paintings were his if he could retrieve them. Finding all legal means closed to him, he traveled to Prague to make one last try. Here, fate intervened with an unlikely savior named Richard VandenBosch, an official at the Canadian Embassy. Together, he and Karl manage to retrieve the paintings and secrete them in the embassy. The final hurdle -- how to get the paintings to Canada? -- is solved by a resourceful art dealer and smuggler named Theofil Kral, whose honest desire to help the Reeser family restore a symbol of their vanished life sees the four paintings returned to them at last.

''Escondendo Edith'' mostra o drama de uma garota judia de seis anos que precisa enfrentar of horrores da Segunda Guerra Mundial. Edith Schwalb tem apenas seis anos quando Hitler invade a Áustria. De repente, a garotinha se vê obrigada a deixar uma vida confortável em Viena para entrar em uma rotina de fugas e incertezas. Primeiro, sua família se muda para a Bélgica, mas é perseguida e foge para a França. Lá, o pai de Edith é preso pelos nazistas e enviado a um campo de concentração. Perante a difícil situação, a mãe de Edith resolve enviar seus filhos caçulas - Edith e Gaston - para o abrigo na cidadezinha de Moissac que acolhe crianças judias.

Interrogée par un soldat à la recherche de fuyards, Gabi, 14 ans, se remémore, en un long "flash-back", comment, avec son cousin de 11 ans et sa mère, elle a survécu aux nazis alors que les troupes d''Hitler frappent la Tchécoslovaquie. Ayant dû quitter la ville, lorsque leur père a été capturé, ils se sont réfugiés dans la campagne chez un couple âgé de cultivateurs chrétiens qui avaient déjà été à l''emploi de leur père. Afin d''éviter tout soupçon, ils ne sont autorisés à sortir de leur humble grange que la nuit. Ne pouvant plus rester confinés à l''intérieur, les adolescents, qui sympathisent avec la petite-fille du couple Kos, s''aventureront cependant dehors lors d''escapades nocturnes en forêt. C''est ainsi qu''ils joignent un groupe de partisans slovaques avec qui ils s''allient. Cependant, leurs activités comportent de sérieux risques et un matin, alors qu''ils fuient une embuscade nazie et rejoignent le grand-père Kos au champ, ils doivent feindre leur filiation afin de sauver leur vie. -- Un roman historique faisant plusieurs bonds dans le temps en s''inspirant de l''exode des ancêtres de l''auteure canadienne-anglaise. Un dossier documentaire conclut ce récit. [SDM].

Laura has just three weeks to go before her Jewish becoming of age ceremony, called a Bat Mitzvah, when she is assigned a special project. She is to read the diary of Sara Gittler, a young girl her own age who was imprisoned by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust. Sara never had the chance to celebrate her coming of age, so Laura is to learn about Sara''s life and then share her Bat Mitzvah with her "twin" by speaking of her at the ceremony. Reluctant to undertake the project at first, Laura quickly becomes caught up by Sara''s struggle to survive. Sara''s diary unfolds with the details of her daily life in the Ghetto, a world full of fear, confusion, tragedy and above all, courage. From Sara''s brave story in the past, Laura learns how to find the courage to confront the possibility of a friend''s current involvement in the desecration of a Jewish cemetery.