Jews trying to escape Nazi Germany who were turned away by country after country, told from the perspective of two children.

Based on the true story of the ship St. Louis, which left Germany in May 1939 full of Jewish passengers seeking refuge in Cuba. Denied port in Cuba, the US, and finally Canada, the St. Louis was forced to return Europe, where many passengers later died in the Holocaust. Through the eyes of two children, Sol and Lisa, both of whom survived the war and shared their experiences, we see as their journey begins with excitement and hope, only to end in frustration and fear. The children's chapters alternate with those of Captain Schroeder, who reveals the full history of the journey.

The extraordinary true story of the modern-day search for a young girl lost in the Holocaust, now with a foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

In March 2000, a suitcase arrived at a children's Holocaust education center in Tokyo, Japan from the Auschwitz museum in Germany. Fumiko Ishioka, the center's curator, was captivated by the writing on the outside that identified its owner: "Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, Waisenkind (the German word for orphan)." Children visiting the center asked: who was Hana Brady? What happened to her? Inspired by their curiosity and her own need to know, Fumiko began a year of detective work, scouring the world for clues. Her search led her from present-day Japan, Europe and North America back to 1938 Czechoslovakia to learn the story of Hana Brady, a fun-loving child with wonderful parents, a protective big brother, and a passion for ice skating, their happy life turned upside down by the invasion of the Nazis.

In the summer of 1941, Irene Lorch must perform the most perilous balancing act of her life….

Irene grew up traveling around Germany with her family’s circus, surrounded by her loved ones and thrilling the crowds with her performance on the high wire...until one day, the audience boos. The Lorch family is Jewish, and the increasing power of Adolf Hitler’s Nazis has put them all in grave danger.

When the circus is forced to shut down and Irene’s father is taken away, Irene and her mother must go into hiding with another circus. Every day is a frightening new kind of balancing act, caught between the desire to perform and the need to hide—even in plain sight.

What does it take to stand up for what’s right?

It’s 1938 in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Paul is feeling pressured to join the Hitler Youth. The last thing he wants to do is march around with a bunch of bullies, but even Paul’s parents think he should go along with his classmates in order to keep himself safe. When Paul meets the Edelweiss Pirates, a group of teenage boys and girls working to undermine the Nazis, he joins their rebel organization instead. Together they sabotage the Third Reich and rescue Jews wherever they can. But during the terrifying violence of Kristallnacht, Paul must step out of the shadows and make a life-changing decision. Inspired by the true story of the Edelweiss Pirates, a group that declared “Eternal War on the Hitler Youth.”

Lillian and her father avoid capture by the Nazis with the help of a real-life hero.

It is 1939 in Berlin, Germany, and twelve-year-old Lillian and her Papa are on the run from Nazi soldiers. Because they are Jewish, they are in danger of being arrested and put in prison. Lillian's father is blind and it seems no one is willing to help them, until they meet Otto Weidt. Mr. Weidt runs a factory that makes brushes for the Nazi army, and his secret is that he employs blind Jewish workers. Lillian soon learns that Otto Weidt is determined to keep her, Papa, and all the Jewish workers safe. But will he be able to? Inspired by a true story.

The first book for children on the escape of Jews during WWII to Shanghai.

Lily Toufar and her family arrive in Shanghai in 1938, having fled from Nazi-occupied Vienna and the persecution of Jewish families like theirs. Shanghai is a strange place for a young European girl, but it is one of the few places in the world to offer Jews refuge from the Holocaust. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and under pressure from Hitler, the Japanese government in Shanghai orders Jewish refugees to move into a ghetto in an area of Shanghai called Hongkew. Life changes for Lily and her family when they are forced to the ghetto. With little food to eat and poor sanitation, disease is rampant. Lily endures, but when rumors begin to circulate that the Japanese are going to open a camp like the ones where Jews are imprisoned in Europe, she fears for her and her family's safety. Based on a true story.

Walter and his family must stay one step ahead of the Nazis, hiding to save their lives.

Walter is a young child when his parents decide to leave their home in Germany and start a new life in the Netherlands. As Jews, they know they are not safe under the Nazi regime. Walter is at first too young to appreciate the danger that he is in, and everything seems like a great adventure. But as his family is forced to move again and again, from city to countryside to, eventually, a hidden village deep in the Dutch woods, Walter’s eyes are opened to the threat that surrounds them every day and to the network of people who are risking their lives to help them stay hidden. Based on a true story, the book shines a light on a little-known part of WWII history and the heroes of the Dutch resistance—particularly those involved in the hidden village—without whose protection, Walter, his family, and hundreds of others would not have survived.

A collection of children's creative writing, essays and art work in response to the question, "Do young people today find meaning in the Holocaust?"

Do young people today find meaning in the Holocaust? That’s the question that prompted a writing project across North America, Italy, and Australia asking young people to share their ideas about this time in history. Some students wrote short stories. Some discussed the impact of books they had read and wrote about the messages that they understood from these books. Several interviewed survivors and recorded their impressions. Many talked about how they have tried to make sense of this history in the world in which they now live. Others created works of art. Children wrote from their hearts with sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and great insight. Their teachers saw this opportunity as a gift, and it proves to all that young people can make a meaningful connection to the Holocaust. Their contributions give hope for a more peaceful and tolerant future.

The true story of Edith Schwalb, a young Jewish girl who was saved from the Nazis by the courage of the entire French village of Moissac.

The remarkable true story of a young girl named Edith and the French village of Moissac that helped her and many other children during the Holocaust. The town's mayor and citizens concealed the presence of hundreds of Jewish children who lived in a safe house, risking their own safety by hiding the children from the Nazis in plain site, saving them from being captured and detained and most certainly saving their lives.

A group of young Jewish friends create a newspaper during WWII to keep their spirits and hopes alive.

In Budejovice, a quiet village in Czechoslovakia, laws and rules were introduced to restrict the freedom of Jewish people during the dark days of World War II. A small shack became the community center - a place to escape from persecution and discrimination. It was here that some brave young people decided to create a newspaper, a magazine that would prove to themselves and their community that they were still creative, energetic, and adventurous. The magazine, Klepy (which means Gossip), was born on August 30, 1940, and over the following two years, twenty-two issues were created and circulated.

John Freund was one of the young "reporters" who contributed to the magazine. In April 1942, John and the other one thousand Jews of Budejovice were deported to the Terezin ghetto. Most of these deportees were immediately sent on to Auschwitz and to their deaths. John was among a handful of Budejovic Jews who survived the war. He currently lives in Toronto. Remarkably, copies of Klepy also survived. The Underground Reporters chronicles the lives of the young people who contributed to the newspaper.

A story of hope and laughter in the midst of the horror of a WWII ghetto.

From the Silver Birch Award-winning author of The Secret of Gabi’s Dresser.

t's a dangerous time for thirteen-year-old Clara and her family. They have just been imprisoned in Terezin (Terezinstadt), a ghetto in a medieval town near Prague - which was built to show the world how "well" the Nazis were treating Jews during the Second World War. Here Clara encounters hunger, disease and filthy living conditions. Even worse is the constant threat of being deported to concentration camps where the possibility of death awaits her.

In the midst of the horror of these conditions, Clara still makes strong friendships and attends classes. Life in the ghetto takes an unusual turn for the young people when a children's opera, Brundibar, written by an inmate, allows them moments of joy and laughter. With a real escape being planned by Jacob, a family tragedy to confront, and an inspection tour by the Red Cross at hand, Clara has some life-challenging decisions to make. Inspired by real events.

A story of consequences, friendship, and a young man's search for identity.

Thirteen-year-old Jakob’s family has hidden their true identity as Jews and are living as Catholics in Budapest during WWII. One day, in a burst of loyalty, Jakob decides to reveal that he is Jewish, a choice that puts his whole family in danger. Jakob hopes his best friend Ivan, a Christian whose father is a high-ranking military official, will help his family, but he comes to believe that Ivan has abandoned them. Sent as a prisoner to Auschwitz, Jakob is kept alive by his passion for revenge against Ivan. When Jakob is finally freed, he discovers that Ivan too made a choice that day, a choice that changes everything Jakob thought was true.

Based on the true story of how the author's mother was hidden from the Nazis...

Gabi is a young Jewish girl living in Czechoslovakia during the time of the Holocaust. Gradually life is getting harder and harder. Jews are bullied at school, they can’t visit each other at a certain time, they have to walk everywhere, they are not allowed to go to non-Jewish stores, and finally Gabi’s best friend deserts her because she is Jewish. One day, the Nazis start visiting all the houses looking for Jewish children. In a tremendous act of courage, Gabi's mother protects Gabi from the soldiers by hiding her in their dining-room dresser. This is the story of author Kathy Kacer's own mother, who was the real-life Gabi. The only thing retrieved from their family's home after the war was the dresser that saved Gabi’s life. It now sits in author Kathy Kacer’s home in Toronto.

Based on real events, young Gabi and her cousin come out of hiding during WWII and become night spies.

It is the middle of World War II, and Gabi and her mother have been lucky so far, eluding the grasp of Nazi soldiers who are sending Jewish people away to unknown fates. But she, her mother and her young cousin, Max, realize that they will never be safe in their town. With the help of a trusted friend, a kind-hearted priest and a poor yet brave farming family, they go into hiding in a tiny mountain village.

It takes great willpower and patience to endure months of fear in their cramped hiding space at the back of a barn. But one night, Gabi and Max can't stand the confinement any longer, and they sneak out for the first of many secret nighttime walks. Deep in the forest, the children make a discovery that turns out to be very useful to the anti-Nazi partisan soldiers camped out nearby. Through their new roles as scouts for the partisans, Gabi and Max find strength and courage, and a renewed sense of hope in dark times.

Based on the true story of two sisters sheltered from the Nazis by a group of Catholic nuns during World War II.

Mama had always told twelve-year-old Susan that there was no safe place for a Jew, especially in German-occupied Hungary in 1944. Susan is skeptical and afraid when she and her little sister, Vera, are sent to a convent to be kept “safe” from the Nazis. Susan and Vera find their lives transformed and soon discover the true nature of courage when they are sheltered by a group of nuns who risk their lives to protect them.

Guardian Angel House was the nickname given to a convent operated by the Sisters of Charity in Budapest that sheltered over 120 Jewish children in German-occupied Hungary during World War II. This book tells the story of author Kathy Clark’s mother and aunt, who were sheltered there by the nuns.

Includes historical photographs and notes about the author’s family and the Hungarian convent that became known as Guardian Angel House.

The first book for children on the famous ship,The Exodus.

Rachel Landesman is eleven years old when she, her mother and sister are crammed on board the Exodus, a dilapidated vessel smuggling 4500 Jewish refugees risking their lives to reach Palestine, their biblical homeland. Despite all they had suffered during the Holocaust, Jewish refugees are still not wanted in many countries. Even a Canadian immigration officer famously said at the time “None is too many” when asked how many refugees Canada would take in. Nonetheless, Rachel and the other refugees refuse to give up hope when war ships surround them. Their fight, and the worldwide attention it brought, influenced the UN to vote for the creation of the state of Israel. Made famous by the Paul Newman film “Exodus”, this is the first book for young people about the ship that helped make history.

Hendrik hatches a daring plan to help smuggle his Jewish friends out of Amsterdam and away from the reach of the Nazis during the Second World War.

During World War II, Hendrik, the son of a fisherman, notices his Jewish friends being ostracized. When he realizes the danger that Hitler’s policies ultimately mean for his friends and their families, he hatches a plan to smuggle them out of the country by boat.

A mysterious diary links modern-day Laura to Sara, a young Jewish girl fighting to stay alive during WWII

For Laura's Bat Mitzvah, her rabbi gives her the journal of Sara Gittler, a Holocaust prisoner who never got to celebrate her coming of age. Laura researchs Sara's life and shares her Bat Mitzvah with her "twin" at the ceremony.

On the 10th anniversary of the publication of Hana's Suitcase, the beloved story was released in a new edition with the original text plus over 60 pages of added materials.

In the spring of 2000, Fumiko Ishioka, the curator of a small Holocaust education centre for children in Tokyo, received a shipment from the Auschwitz museum. Among the items she received was an empty suitcase with the words “Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, Orphan” written on it. Fumiko and the children at the centre took it upon themselves to find out what became of Hana. The heartbreaking story they uncovered of a brave young girl killed in the Holocaust and survived only by her brother, George, was captured in Karen Levine’s book, and became an icon in Canadian children’s publishing. The response since the book was first published has been overwhelming. This new edition is full of special features, including new photographs, letters, and an audio CD.

The stage adaptation of the extraordinary true story that brings the history of the Holocaust to life for young readers

In 2000 Fumiko, the curator of a small Holocaust education centre in Japan, received an empty suitcase owned by a young girl, Hana Brady, lost in the Holocaust. Fumiko was determined to find out the details of Hana's story. This edition contains the full script of the play adaptation by Emil Sher.