New Releases by Kathy Kacer

The remarkable true story of a young girl named Edith and the French village of Moissac that helped her and many other children during the Holocaust. The town''s mayor and citizens concealed the presence of hundreds of Jewish children who lived in a safe house, risking their own safety by hiding the children from the Nazis in plain site, saving them from being captured and detained and most certainly saving their lives.

It is 1946, and the war is finally over. Margit''s beloved father has returned to his family after being held in a concentration camp, and Margit is thrilled. Her family is trying hard to do well in their new home, but Toronto is very different from Czechoslovakia. Her highly educated father cannot find work in this new country, and Margit starts to fail at school, which she hides from her parents. How can she disappoint the family she loves after they have been through so much to make a good life for her in Canada? Welcome back to OUR CANADIAN GIRL, and the continuing adventures of Margit and many other smart, spirited, and courageous girls. They come from different places and times in Canadian history, and each of them meets some ordinary--and extraordinary--challenges in her day-to-day life.

In Budejovice, a quiet village in Czechoslovakia, laws and rules were introduced to restrict the freedom of Jewish people during the dark days of World War II. A small plot of land by the river was allocated to the village''s Jewish youth. While almost all areas of the village were off limits to the children, here they were able to meet and play. A small shack on this land became the community center -- a place to escape from persecution and discrimination. And it was here that some brave young people decided to create a newspaper, a magazine that would prove to themselves and their community that they were still creative, energetic, and adventurous. The magazine, Klepy (which means Gossip), was born on August 30, 1940, and over the next two years, twenty-two issues were created and circulated. The magazine included simple type-written stories, elaborate paintings, and editorials, all created in the midst of war. John Freund was one of the young "reporters" who contributed to the magazine. In April 1942, John and the other one thousand Jews of Budejovice were deported to the concentration camp, Terezin. Most of these deportees were immediately sent on to Auschwitz and to their deaths. John was among a handful of Budejovic Jews who survived the war. He currently lives in Toronto. Remarkably, copies of Klepy also survived. The Underground Reporters chronicles the lives of the young people who contributed to the newspaper. The story is full of adventure, mystery and excitement. With drawings, poems, stories and jokes, The Underground Reporters looks at life with as much optimism as possible, providing hope for a peaceful world to come.

Based on real events and real characters! It is the middle of World War II, and Gabi and her mother have been lucky so far, eluding the grasp of Nazi soldiers who are sending Jewish people away to unknown fates. But she, her mother and her young cousin, Max, realize that they will never be safe in their town. With the help of a trusted friend, a kind-hearted priest and a poor yet brave farming family, they go into hiding in a tiny mountain village. It takes great willpower and patience to endure months of fear in their cramped hiding space at the back of a barn. But one night, Gabi and Max can''t stand the confinement any longer, and they sneak out for the first of many secret nighttime walks. Deep in the forest, the children make a discovery that turns out to be very useful to the anti-Nazi partisan soldiers camped out nearby. Through their new roles as scouts for the partisans, Gabi and Max find strength and courage, and a renewed sense of hope in dark times.

Jack the B.

Having escaped from Nazi soldiers, Gabi, her mother and her young cousin, Max, hide on a farm and become scouts for anti-Nazi soldiers camped nearby.

It''s a dangerous time for thirteen-year-old Clara and her family. They have just been imprisoned in Terezin (Terezinstadt), a ghetto in a medieval town near Prague -- which was built to show the world how "well" the Nazis were treating Jews during the Second World War. Here Clara encounters hunger, disease and filthy living conditions. Even worse is the constant threat of being deported to concentration camps where the possibility of death awaits her. But in the midst of the horror of these conditions Clara makes strong friendships with Hanna, a girl from home, and Jacob, an older boy who helps her learn about life in the ghetto. She also participates in classes where education, music and poetry flourish. Life in the ghetto takes an unusual turn for the young people when a children''s opera, Brundibar, written by an inmate, allows them moments of joy and laughter. With a real escape being planned by Jacob, a family tragedy to confront, and an inspection tour from the Red Cross at hand, Clara has some life-challenging decisions to make. Inspired by real events, particularly by performances of Brundibar, this compelling work for readers ten and up includes historical photographs of the ghetto and of the children on the opening night of the opera. A review of the performance written by a young boy in an underground ghetto newspaper adds further depth to the book.

Gabi is a young Jewish girl living in Czechoslovakia during the time of the Holocaust. Gradually life is getting harder and harder. Jews are bullied at school, they can''t visit each other at a certain time, they have to walk everywhere, they are not allowed to go to non-Jewish stores, and finally Gabi''s best friend deserts her because she is Jewish. One day, the Nazis start visiting all the houses looking for Jewish children. In a tremendous act of courage, Gabi''s mother protects Gabi from the soldiers by hiding her in their dining-room dresser. This is the story of author Kathy Kacer''s own mother, who was the real-life Gabi. The only thing retrieved from their family''s home after the war was the dresser that saved Gabi''s life. It now sits in author Kathy Kacer''s home in Toronto.