Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet

Spare poems telling Moishe Moskowitz's story -- heartbreaking. A very effective Holocaust book, set in Kielce, Poland. The narrative team is interesting -- Moishe's memories, Gloria's arrangement of the story, Hope's poetry. Works well, but context needed.

This book, like most books that highlight the horrors of the holocaust, is chilling and eye opening, but also inspires hope. I would have children read this to learn about history, certainly. But I would also love them to understand that there is always hope for good, as is illustrated in our main character, who endured pain beyond what we can imagine.

Poems tell the true story of Moishe Moskowitz’s family as the Nazis invaded Poland and rounded up the Jews. While enduring unimaginable loss, tragedy and torture, Moishe held on to any glimmer of hope he could find. Unadorned prose reflects the family’s simple life of love and togetherness; later, it serves as a contrast to the horrors, and as a protective response.

An approachable story in prose that communicated some grace to me. I recommend this book for people that interested in peeking behind the veil of Jewish oppression in World War I. I don't know much about this topic. But I felt as though the writer and illustrator were great about understanding how to facilitate a dialogue about this important historic time with young adults and some un-informed adults.