The Devils Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
The Devil’s Arithmetic
by Jane Yolen
Hannah never wanted to remember
what happened to her grandparents and aunt when they were children in the
Holocaust. Now that she is experiencing it for herself, she realizes that the
memories are all they have. All of their possessions and many of their loved
ones are all gone and all that remains are the things they can remember. Hannah
isn’t sure how she ended up in a village in the 1940’s. She was (not really)
enjoying the Passover Seder at her grandfather’s house when she opened the door
for the prophet Elijah, per tradition, and found herself in Poland. People were
calling her Chaya, her Hebrew name, and she could understand Yiddish. Hannah
also understood when she saw the line of officers near a distant village that
they were Nazi’s. The memories of her real life that she was clinging to forced
her to warn the others of what was to come but they wouldn’t listen. It was too
late. As Hannah was loaded into the trucks, and eventually into the box cars
she realized the worst was yet to come.
The
Devil’s Arithmetic is an emotional, captivating, young adult novel that
handles with great sensitivity the horrors of the Holocaust. I honestly feel
like children have a really hard time being empathetic towards traumatic events
they have never experienced. Not all children, but Hannah definitely fits into
that mold. Experiencing the Holocaust and the routine of horror that she does
as Chaya in 1942 will forever change her view on life. She struggles throughout
the novel with what version of her life is real, the one of the unnamed family
or those that she is currently experiencing. It was an interesting internal
dialogue. Hannah knows that millions of Jews die but how does she know that
with such conviction? How can any of this be happening or any of it be real?
I really enjoyed this novel. It was
heart wrenching, well written and appropriate for the age range it was intended
for. Yolen wasn’t overly graphic with what occurred in a concentration camp but
she was able to depict that is was a harsh reality. I was invested in the
outcome of all the characters even though I knew there was no happily ever
after to be had in this story. Yolen did a great job with creating a novel that
could represent this horrific moment in history and divulge a great amount of emotion.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars and would definitely recommend it. It’s intended for
younger readers but I think everyone would enjoy it.
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