The Devil's Arithmetic

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Customer reviews

review by: Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier. date: 2008-04-09 rating:
Courtesy of Teens Read Too
THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC by Jane Yolen is required reading at my school, as it is in many middle/junior high schools across the country. I've been meaning to read it for several years but never did, until my son read it this year as an eighth grader. He insisted I read it. How could I resist that?

Hannah is celebrating Passover Seder with her family. It's the same thing every year. Grandpa will get all worked up over old photos on TV, shaking his fist, screaming about the numbers on his arm, and Aunt Eva will calm him down as she always does, laying a hand on his arm, leading the same old Jewish prayers as Hannah mumbles along. But this year will be different. Hannah's brother, Aaron, will get to hide the afikoman, Hannah will get to taste real wine, and then she'll get to open the door to symbolically welcome in the prophet Elijah.

But when she opened that door, she had no idea just how different this year's celebration would be.

Instead of seeing the hallway in front of her as she expected, she sees a man coming her way, crossing a field. Confused, she turns back to her family and instead sees a strange woman, dressed even more strangely, kneading dough on a wooden table. Hannah's confusion grows as she hears herself referred to as Chaya, and discovers that these two people believe themselves to be her Aunt Gitl and Uncle Shmuel. More unbelievably, they talk about her parents' deaths, and that she herself had nearly died, sick for weeks.

Feeling like she's in a dream she can't wake up from, she finds herself pulled into wedding festivities, which includes walking to a nearby village for the celebration. There, her dream turns into a nightmare. Hannah is slowly disappearing as Chaya is loaded onto trucks with the other villagers. Then, later, they are prodded like cattle aboard boxed railroad cars with no ventilation, and they travel, standing, for four days and nights without food or bathrooms. What follows is days, weeks, maybe months, in a Jewish concentration camp.

Jane Yolen's telling of the Holocaust is chilling. She gathered information from survivors, those heroes who remember so that the atrocities of the past will never happen again. Ms. Yolen writes in her final pages to the reader, "That heroism - to resist being dehumanized, to simply outlive one's tormentors, to practice the quiet, everyday caring for one's equally tormented neighbors. To witness. To remember. These were the only victories of the camps."

This book is incredibly powerful. The way Ms. Yolen weaves the past and present together forces the reader to make personal connections. She makes the reader think and ask questions. How could society have allowed such a thing to happen? And, more importantly, how can we assure that it will never happen again? I truly hope THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC will remain required reading in schools. Each new generation must bear the weight of those lost souls upon their heart. They must believe that such devastating events can, and did, happen. Only in believing and remembering can we move forward to a better society.

Thank you, Ms. Yolen, for this riveting and thought-provoking book.

Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger

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review by: date: 2001-08-23 rating:
Powerful, thought provoking, and quite simply wonderful
Amazing! I finished reading this book half an hour ago and I'm still shaking. It is moving, skillfully written, and one of the most powerful pieces I have read in a long while.

The hollocust is a difficult subject for any book to cover, let alone one written for children. This novel may well be too distrubing for many of its target audience but for those who have the stomach for it, I heartedly recommend this book.

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review by: date: 1999-09-20 rating:
Well worth £...
This book was excellent. It grasped me from the beginning and I couldn't stop reading, I loved it. Hannah hates Passover, and when she gives all her wine, which she hates, into the glass for Elijah, her grandfather lets her (as a reward for her selflessness) open the door for Elijah. Only when she does, instead of other apartment doors there is a kitchen that is obviouly way out of date.... Hannah is caught in the Polish Jewish communtity just before they are taken off to concentration camps. And when the Nazis arrive, only Hannah knows their true business....

Compelling, great story. After showing it to my English teacher we are now reading it in class. Comes highly recommended!

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review by: date: 1999-07-28 rating:
An excellent book for children and adults alike
My mother brought this book back from the States initially for my nine year old daughter. She read it on the plane coming home, and both myself and my eleven year old son have also read it. It has now gone on loan to family and friends. I thought that it was an excellent book, which gave just enough detail for young readers, and brought tears to everyone's eyes at the end. I am now purchasing it as a present.


review by: date: 1999-07-05 rating:
EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!
I am a 34 year old woman who read this book on the recommendation of my 12 year old niece. It was such an amazing book that came to life as I read. The characters are realistic, the writing is exceptional and the story is right from the pages of our history books. The ending was incredible as well! I read the book in one sitting and was so intrigued by it all. I would highly recommend this book to young and old as it is not only an excellent read, but a part of history that should not be forgotten! This book will be a Christmas gift for everyone on our list!

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