Ashley Esteva
EDU 635
Chapter Book Blog
1. The Devil’s Arithmetic
Written by: Jane Yolen
2. Number of pages: 170
3. Grade
Level: 5th grade
4.
Genre:
contemporary fiction
5. Summary: The story of a
12 year old girl named Hannah. When she goes to her family’s house for Passover
Seder with her extended family she is reluctant to join in, she does not see
why this time is so important to her family epically her older grandparents and
aunts and uncles. During the dinner when she opens the door for Elijah she is
transported into another time. To her surprise she is in a small town in Poland
in 1940. Within a short time she realizes the predicament she has wound up in.
Hannah and the people she lived with in the life in Poland were carted off to
the Auschwitz concentration camp. Hannah is having to come to terms that she
cannot seem to get back to her home and her family but as time goes on she
remembers less and less of her old life and falls deeper into her new life as Chaya
in the concentration camp. She makes friends in the camp and while doing chores
with her friends three of them are selected to go to the gas chambers, Hannah
was the only one of her friends not to be chosen. In an act of selflessness she
switches places with her best friend and takes her place. As soon as Hannah
steps through the door she is back in her original time period still waiting
for Elijah at the door. She comes to realize the woman that she saved was her
favorite aunt. Never again did Hannah resent her family for telling her to
always remember the past.
6. Classroom applications: This book can be applied to
units relating with: World History- WWII era focusing on the personal stories
of those affected by the war, the Holocaust, Family History-oral traditions,
and Family Traditions and their significance.
7. Awards
and Recognition: The
book was nominated for the Nebula in 1988 and received the National Jewish Book
Award in 1989.
8.
Themes/Topics:
The
importance of Family
Family
Traditions
Holocaust
Overcoming
Hardships
9. Author Information: Jane Yolen was born in 1939 in
Manhattan, New York. To date she has written 280 books on topics ranging from
fantasy, science fiction, children’s literature, and poetry. In 2012 she was
the first woman to give the Andrew Lang Lecture. In regards to her personal
life, she was married in 1962 to David W. Stemple. She has three children and
six grandchildren.
10. For more information on author
11. Online Resources
Unknown. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Yolen
