Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

[dempseybelle001]

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen is a Holocaust fiction based off of survivors experiences. Hannah is a young girl on her way to her family's Passover dinner. During the ceremony, Hannah is asked to open the door to invite in Elijah. However, when Hannah opens the door to her grandparents apartment instead of seeing the hallway she see a green field. Somehow she has time traveled to World War II. Hannah has taken the place of Chaya. Chaya has just broken a fever that killed her parents and that is how Gitl and Shmuel explain her story telling of the future as her way of coping.
Shmuel, Chaya's uncle, is getting ready to marry a Jewish woman, Fayge, from a neighboring village. Shmuel's village and family all travel to Fayge's village. Once they arrive to the village to begin the ceremony they are stopped by the gestapo and are shipped through train carts to concentration camps. Chaya struggles throughout the book to warn and protect her family.
Yolen's theme throughout the book is remembrance of the Holocaust, the victims, and the survivors. This is a very inspirational book that brought tears to my eyes. The time traveling aspect of this book is a very con traversal topic. For myself, the time travel element only added to the effects of this book. Without the time traveling aspect, Hannah, would not have learned or witness the crimes and actions that Passover is meant to remember. I give this book a 4 out of 4 stars.