SYNOPSIS: Her father’s words — and a black C-sharp piano key hidden away in the folds of her dress — are all that she has left to remind her of life before. Before, Hanna was going to be a famous concert pianist. She was going to wear her yellow dress to a dance. And she was going to dance with a boy. But then the Nazis came. Now it is up to Hanna to do all she can to keep her mother and sister alive, even if that means playing piano for the commandant and his guests. Staying alive isn’t supposed to include falling in love with the commandant’s son. But Karl Jager is beautiful, and his aloofness belies a secret. And war makes you do dangerous things. WHY SHOULD YOU CHECK IT OUT? This cover. This. Cover. At first it looks like a really beautiful cabaret style poster with the pianist’s long fingers gliding easily across the keys. But then we look closer and realize that the interesting star-designs are actually the sharp points of barbed wire, like that which would surround Hanna’s concentration camp prison. That the only colors of the cover are reds, white, and black help to draw the mind to Nazi Germany soon after. This is Australian author Suzy Zail’s first YA novel, though she has written award-winning children’s books. Suzy is an internationally published author, freelance journalist and former litigation lawyer. She was inspired to write about the Holocaust when her father–diagnosed with a terminal illness and given six months to live–told his family the previously unknown details of his childhood, surviving a German concentration camp, and becoming a refugee in Australia. “Writing this book allowed me to revisit my father’s story and remember him and the millions of other children and teenagers who didn’t survive”, Suzy says. “By reading about the Holocaust and trying to understand it we can make sure it never happens again.”
EARLY REVIEWS SAY… Although she witnesses much cruelty and degradation, Hanna also discovers courage, integrity, and ingenuity in surprising ways; in particular, through Karl, the quiet, musical son of the cruel commandant for whom Hanna plays piano, who calls her “by my name, not my number.” An elegant, disturbing portrait of one of history’s bleakest moments, offset by the subversive power of love. (Publishers Weekly) NECESSARY DETAILS |
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