Below is a list of 8 the books by this author.
Daniel barely remembers leading a normal life before the Nazis came to power in 1933. He can still picture once being happy and safe, but memories of... [Read More]
Daniel barely remembers leading a normal life before the Nazis came to power in 1933. He can still picture once being happy and safe, but memories of those days are fading as he and his family face the dangers threatening Jews in Hitler's Germany in the late 1930's. No longer able to practice their religion, vote, own property, or even work, Daniel's family is forced from their home in Frankfurt and sent on a long and dangerous journey, first to the Lodz ghetto in Poland, and then to Auschwitz -, the Nazi death camp. Though many around him lose hope in the face of such terror, Daniel, supported by his courageous family, struggles for survival. He finds hope, life and even love in the midst of despair.
Carol Matas's award-winning novel, reissued for its 25th anniversary! Daniel barely remembers leading a normal life before the Nazis came to power... [Read More]
Carol Matas's award-winning novel, reissued for its 25th anniversary! Daniel barely remembers leading a normal life before the Nazis came to power in 1933. He can still picture once being happy and safe, but memories of those days are fading as he and his family face the dangers threatening Jews in Hitler's Germany in the late 1930's. No longer able to practice their religion, vote, own property, or even work, Daniel's family is forced from their home in Frankfurt and sent on a long and dangerous journey, first to the Lodz ghetto in Poland, and then to Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp. Though many around him lose hope in the face of such terror, Daniel, supported by his courageous family, struggles for survival. He finds hope, life and even love in the midst of despair. This edition includes a chronology, a timeline, and a brand-new message from the author.
Theme: Holocaust
A young Jewish girl recounts her experiences during a horrifying time in recent history. As Rose begins her diary, she is in her third home since... [Read More]
A young Jewish girl recounts her experiences during a horrifying time in recent history. As Rose begins her diary, she is in her third home since coming to Winnipeg. Traumatized by her experiences in the Holocaust, she struggles to connect with others, and above all, to trust again. When her new guardian, Saul, tries to get Rose to deal with what happened to her during the war, she begins writing in her diary about how she survived the murder of the Jews in Poland by going into hiding. Memories of herself and her mother being taken in by those willing to risk sheltering Jews, moving from place to place, being constantly on the run to escape capture, begin to flood her diary pages. Recalling those harrowing days, including when they stumbled on a resistance cell deep in the forest and lived underground in filthy conditions, begins to take its toll on Rose. As she delves deeper into her past, she is haunted by the most terrifying memory of all. Will she find the courage to bear witness to her mother's ultimate sacrifice?
Theme: Holocaust
An unforgettable reminder of the resilience of human compassion, even in the face of the worst horrors of our history. In the autumn of 1940, Anna... [Read More]
An unforgettable reminder of the resilience of human compassion, even in the face of the worst horrors of our history. In the autumn of 1940, Anna Hirsch and her friends and family are rounded up by Nazis and deported to Gurs, a refugee camp in the south of France. Food is scarce, and the living conditions inhumane. Even worse is the ever-present fear that they will be relocated once again - this time to one of the death camps. But when word comes that Anna and the other children are to be moved, their destination is not Auschwitz or Buchenwald, but Le Chambon-sur-Lignon: a tiny village whose citizens have agreed to care for deported Jewish children. Based on the true story of a French village that banded together to protect the Jews during WWII, this unforgettable tale honours the contagious goodness that permeated one corner of a region otherwise enveloped in evil, and celebrates the courage of all those who put their lives at risk to save others.
Theme: Holocaust, War/Children and War
I survived. Protected by the Nazis that killed my family. Could I ever forgive myself? Award-winning novelist Carol Matas brings readers into the... [Read More]
I survived. Protected by the Nazis that killed my family. Could I ever forgive myself? Award-winning novelist Carol Matas brings readers into the heart of Nazi Germany with the harrowing story of Marisa, a Polish Jew whose blond hair and blue eyes make it easy for her to pass as a Christian. With the Nazis ready to herd the remaining Jews of her town into a ghetto, and with her family either scattered or dead, Marisa takes the papers of a Polish girl and goes to Germany in a desperate attempt to survive as a Polish worker. Marisa finds work as a servant for the Reymanns, a German family that treats her with respect. But she must never forget that Herr Reymann is a high-ranking Nazi. Marisa is hiding in plain sight in her enemy's house. This unflinching account of Marisa's dilemma as a Jew living a lie in order to survive will give readers a new perspective on the nature of good and evil, even as it touches their hearts.
Theme: War/Children and War, Holocaust
A gripping story of survival and hope from acclaimed author Carol Matas. Ruth survived the Holocaust and the long journey to Palestine. Now she finds... [Read More]
A gripping story of survival and hope from acclaimed author Carol Matas. Ruth survived the Holocaust and the long journey to Palestine. Now she finds herself once again in a war zone as Israel battles for its existence. Her brother is on the front lines. Ruth and her boyfriend are injured and cannot fight, so they care for children in a hospital. Ruth tells the children stories to distract them and help them make sense of their situation. As she recovers, she too must return to the fight. A trauma forces her back to another time when she told stories: to her fellow prisoners in Auschwitz. We discover what Ruth went through in the camps, the horrors she saw, the friends she made and lost. Through it all Ruth comes to understand that she must find a new way to live, a way that does not give up on hope.
Theme: Middle East
It is 1941. Fourteen-year-old Ben Friedman flees the horrors of Nazi Germany with his parents and his sister, leaving behind his grandparents, his... [Read More]
It is 1941. Fourteen-year-old Ben Friedman flees the horrors of Nazi Germany with his parents and his sister, leaving behind his grandparents, his friends, his home. They make a difficult journey over land and sea all the way to Japan and then to America. In Seattle, Ben dares to hope that he will finally be safe. He finds a friend in John, a Japanese-American boy, but then comes the attack on Pearl Harbor and everything changes. Fear begins to grow in Ben, fear that it is all happening again. Where can he be safe? What should he do? He dreams of Canada, thinking it a haven, only to find that he has nowhere to turn, nowhere to run. Perhaps safety is not where or even what he thinks it is. Perhaps life is not what he imagined at all.
Theme: Historical Fiction
How do animals see the world? It turns out, very differently. In this nonfiction picture book, a young girl and her baby sister's outdoor... [Read More]
How do animals see the world? It turns out, very differently. In this nonfiction picture book, a young girl and her baby sister's outdoor adventure (hiking through the forest, picnicking in the grass and swimming in the ocean) is overseen by the local fauna. The way those animals view the girls is very different from how the girls see each other. Goats see far and wide in a panorama, whales don't see color the way humans do and a high-soaring eagle's sharp vision can clearly see a tiny mouse far below. Through clever illustrations and scientific prose, we are reminded that while we may see things differently, we all share this life together on planet Earth.