Rebekah Reads: Hedy's Journey: The True Story of a Hungarian Girl Fleeing the Holocaust Book Review February 6, 2021

 

Hedy's Journey: The True Story of a Hungarian Girl Fleeing the Holocaust

by Michelle Bisson

illustrated by El primo Ramon

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About the Book

Title: Hedy's Journey: The True Story of a Hungarian Girl Fleeing the Holocaust

Author: Michelle Bisson

Illustrator: El primo Ramon

Reading Age: 8-12 years

Reading Grades: 3-7
Reading Level: 720L

It is 1941. Hedy and her family are Jewish, and the Nazi party is rising. Hedy's family is no longer safe in their home in Hungary. They decide to flee to America, but because of their circumstances, sixteen-year-old Hedy must make her way through Europe alone. Will luck be with her? Will she be brave? Join Hedy on her journey-where she encounters good fortune and misfortune, a kind helper and cruel soldiers, a reunion and a tragedy-and discover how Hedy is both lucky and brave. Hedy's Journey adds an important voice to the canon of Holocaust stories, and her courage will make a lasting impact on young readers.

My Thoughts

My friend, Dora had a letter and numbers on her arm, A-7603. She said the Nazi's went about dehumanizing Jewish people by limiting their freedoms, removing them from their homes to ghettos, loading them in train cars, and taking them to concentration and extermination camps. At Auschwitz, Dora was given a number and known by the identification tattooed on her forearm. Hedy would have faced a similar journey had her family not been able to leave Europe. In Hedy's Journey, Hedy's daughter, Michelle tells Hedy's story of leaving Hungary and finally arriving in the United States. Michelle's poignant telling of her mother's story highlights the varied stories of those lost and of those who survived the Holocaust. Hedy and her family, like my friend Dora, defeat the enemy every day simply by living and bringing more generations of their families into the world. 

Hedy's Journey proves to be an excellent borrow from the library and

valuable addition to your personal collection.

How to talk about the Holocaust with young readers

Hedy's Journey highlights the many different ways European Jews escaped capture and reminds us we will never fully understand the extent of the Holocaust until we read the accounts of people's lives and see mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, sons, and daughters, friends, and sweethearts rather than numbers. You can discuss with your young reader other Holocaust accounts you've read and heard, comparing and contrasting Hedy's experience with others' experiences. You can ask, "How is Hedy's story similar to ______'s story?" or "How did Hedy and ____ have different experiences during the Holocaust?"

You could also talk about ways Hedy was resilient in the face of adversity. What lessons can we learn from Hedy about being resilient?

I utterly love these illustrations. Each picture perfectly matches the text and draws you into Hedy's journey.