Friedman, D. Dina.
ESCAPING INTO THE NIGHT
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006
IL 5-8, RL 5.5
ISBN 1416902589

(2 booktalks)

Thirteen-year-old Halina Rudowski is living with her mother in the Norwogrodek ghetto.  The Germans have forced the Jews into this place to keep them together.  But things are changing.  The Germans have begun to round up all the Jews to move them out.  Halina escapes into the woods but her mother is captured and killed along with some other Jews that were also being rounded up.  Halina, along with about 300 other Jews, now must find a way to survive in the woods and not be captured.  While living in the encampment, Halina faces many physical challenges such as fear and starvation.  But she also must come to grips with her new life that has taken her from a comfortable, civilized lifestyle to a primitive, crude existence.

Booktalk #2

Halina Rudowski is 13 years old when she is forced to leave her home to escape from the Nazis. Together with her friend Batya, she makes a grueling journey through the sewer lines until she reaches a settlement of other refugees hidden deep in the forest. Yet this is just the beginning of Halina's journey. As Halina struggles with issues any teenager would face, she must also deal with disagreements between the leaders of the settlement, food shortages, and the ethics of resistance.  But the biggest test of all comes when Halina herself volunteers for a journey that will test her strength, loyalty, and courage.   Will she stay strong in the face of destruction?  Set against a background of music and first-love, this historical novel explores the issues of faith, loss, and family, while recounting a little-known aspect of the Holocaust.  (Dina Friedman, author)