Yolen, J. (1998). The devil's arithmetic . New York: The Trumpet Club.
The Devil's Arithmetic is about Hannah who lives in New York and finds herself living during World War II. Before she is finds herself in 1942, she is sick of hearing about her family that either died or survived the Holocaust. She thinks that she is dreaming but as the story goes on, she realizes there is something else going on. She experiences what most people went through during this time, death and hardship. Eventually, Nazis come to take her to a concentration camp.
This book could be used when learning about the Holocaust in history class. It stresses the importance of remembering history and appreciating what others before us have gone through. This book puts a cool twist on history because she goes back in time. This book also shows some of the Jewish traditions and holidays that they celebrate. The students could write a story about a time period they would like to visit when reading this book.
I think it would be great to use this book as a Holocaust history supplement. There are a few other books that could be used along side this one that would add some great insight and give some different perspectives of the Holocaust, like Night, by Elie Weisel. This would be great to partner with a history teacher and work together through a Holocaust unit.
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