From Publishers Weekly
Dutch poet and journalist Friedman's first novel is a harrowing and deeply moving account of three siblings' struggle to understand their father, a Holocaust survivor plagued by nightmares and horrific memories. "I've had camp," Ephraim explains, referring to his ordeal as if it were the flu or measles, hoping to make it more comprehensible to his sullen preteen son, Max, to the younger and more innocent Simon and to his unnamed eight-year-old daughter, who narrates the story in a terse, precocious, lyrical voice. Eventually, Ephraim relives his camp experience with adult candor, telling his offspring of gassings, slave labor, torture and sadistic beatings, of how he murdered a camp boss and of his miraculous liberation and reunion with Bette, his wife and the children's mother. Friedman, whose father was a Holocaust survivor, manages despite all odds to tell her story with a light touch, showing keen insight into the emotional confusion and moral growth that the siblings undergo as they strive to fathom absolute evil and how it has scarred their father.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
YA?Through the first-person narration of the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, Friedman presents a book that will resonate for readers of all ages, backgrounds, and interests. Each short chapter shows the horrors of Nazi atrocities and the subsequent struggle to make sense of why they happened. That the consequences of the Holocaust continue to manifest themselves is a primary lesson to be learned here?the loss of childhood is a circular occurrence in this family. At the same time, the vignettes point out how little we can understand of the agony suffered in concentration camps. In one chapter, somewhat reminiscent of Anne Frank, the narrator's father tells his tale of survival to his children. His loss gradually becomes their loss, and all joy is dampened. Sadness and helplessness are constant. Although the book is grim and relentlessly intense, the analysis and thought that it offers will provide new insights into the Holocaust and its victims.?Richard Klein, Edison High School, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
