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| {{short description|1988 children's time slip novel by Jane Yolen}} | |||
| ⚫ | {{About|the novel|the TV movie|The Devil's Arithmetic (film)}} | ||
| {{italic title}} | |||
| {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}} | {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2012}} | ||
| ⚫ | {{About|the novel|the TV movie|The Devil's Arithmetic (film)}} | ||
| ⚫ | '''''The Devil's Arithmetic''''' is a ] novel written by American author ] and published in 1988. The book is about Hannah Stern, a ] girl who lives in ] and is sent back in time to experience ]. During a ], Hannah is transported back in time to 1941 ], during ], where she is sent to a ] and learns the importance of knowing about the past. | ||
| {{Infobox book | |||
| | name = The Devil's Arithmetic | |||
| | image = The Devil's Arithmetic.jpeg | |||
| | author = ] | |||
| | country = ] | |||
| | genre = ], ], ] | |||
| | publisher = Viking | |||
| | isbn = 0-670-81027-4 | |||
| | pub_date = 1988 | |||
| }} | |||
| ⚫ | '''''The Devil's Arithmetic''''' is a ] ] novel written by American author ] and published in 1988. The book is about Hannah Stern, a ] girl who lives in ], and is sent back in time to experience ]. During a ], Hannah is transported back in time to 1941 ], during ], where she is sent to a ] and learns the importance of knowing about the past. | ||
| == Background == | |||
| ⚫ | ''The Devil's Arithmetic'' was nominated for the ] in 1988<ref>{{cite web| |
||
| Author Jane Yolen, who is ], noted that she had considered writing about the Holocaust for some time, but was overwhelmed. She was convinced to pursue the subject by an editor of hers at the time, who was a ] wife.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Yolen|first=Jane|title=Devil's Arithmetic, The – Jane Yolen|url=https://www.janeyolen.com/the-devils-arithmetic/|access-date=2020-12-18|language=en-US}}</ref> ''The Devil's Arithmetic'' is the author's first book that deals explicitly with Jewish themes.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Yolen|first=Jane|date=1989–1990|title=Speech Delivered at the Sydney Taylor Book Awards|journal=Judaica Librarianship|volume=5|issue=1|pages=52}}</ref> | |||
| While writing the novel, Yolen spent a week at an ] private school; when she explained to students about her forthcoming work, one student asked if Yolen had made up the events of the novel, based on the real story of the Holocaust.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
| ==Plot== | ==Plot== | ||
| Hannah Stern is a Jewish girl living in the present day |
Hannah Stern is a Jewish preteen girl living in the present day. She is bored by her relative's stories about the past, is not looking forward to the ], and is tired of her religion. When Hannah symbolically opens the door for the prophet ], she is transported back in time to a ] on the ]/] border in 1942, during ].<ref name=":2" /> Hannah is not immediately aware of the time period. | ||
| Poland, during ]. | |||
| At that time and place, the people believe she is Chaya Abramowicz, who is recovering from ], the fever that killed Chaya's parents a few months ago. The strange remarks Hannah/Chaya makes about the future and her inability to recognize Chaya's aunt Gitl and uncle Shmuel are blamed on the fever. | |||
| Hannah then goes to a Jewish wedding. She doesn't know what year she is in. At the wedding she learns it is "year 5,073". When Nazis come and round up the people involved in the wedding she learns that it is October 1941. She tells the fellow wedding goers about the holocaust but they don't believe her. | |||
| After being brought to a Nazi concentration camp the men and women are separated. the rabbi disagrees with the Nazi leader, who says he will "deal with him later." | |||
| At Uncle Shmuel's wedding, the ] come to transport the entire population of the village to a ] near Donavin, and only Hannah knows all the terrors they will face: starvation, mistreatment, forced labor, and finally execution. | |||
| Hannah and the other women are stripped, shaved, and tatooed with a number. They are then thrown into barracks.Hannah and the other women are forced to dig trenches in the camp. As one of the women is pregnant she clinched in her stomach with a belt. After the Nazis say there is a breakout of typhus in the women's quarters, the rabbis female family members are taken away, presumably to the gas chambers. When the men hear about this, the can't take it anymore. | |||
| Some of the men from the wedding, including the groom and the rabbis son, decide to attempt an escape even though Hannah begs them not to. They are caught and hanged as everyone watches. | |||
| Hannah and the other women are stripped, shaved, and tattooed with a number. Hannah and the other women are forced to dig trenches in the camp. Hannah struggles to survive at the camp, with the help of a girl named Rivka. Uncle Shmuel and some other men try to escape; the men are caught and then shot as everyone watches. Fayge, who was going to be married to Shmuel, is killed because she runs to Shmuel when he is about to be shot with the men that were caught. Yitzchak escapes and lives in the forest with the partisans, fighting the Germans. | |||
| The women from Hannah's Barack gives birth. After her baby is found, the mother and her child are sent to the gas chambers along with Hannah's aunt. | |||
| Later, when Hannah, Rivka, Esther, and Shifre are working, a guard overhears them talking instead of working. Shifre tries to reassure the guard they have been working, but he takes them anyway and leaves Hannah by herself. As the three are about to leave, Hannah takes Rivka's place by putting on her ]. Since the guards don't know their faces, this goes unnoticed by the officer. The girls are led to the gas chamber. She is then transported back to her family's Seder. Aunt Eva calls her over. Hannah looks at Aunt Eva's number; it is the same as Rivka's. Hannah (when she was Chaya) was really the girl she was named after, Rivka was Aunt Eva, and Rivka's brother, Wolfe, was Grandpa Will. (Aunt Eva said that they changed their names when they got to America.) | |||
| The epilogue at the end of the novel reveals that when the camp was liberated, the survivors were Gitl (weighing a mere {{convert|73|lb|kg|disp=sqbr}}), Yitzchak, Rivka, and Leye (a worker in the camp) and her baby. Gitl and Yitzchak immigrate to Israel where Yitzchak becomes a politician while Gitl organizes a rescue mission that is dedicated to salvaging the lives of young survivors and locating family members. The organization is named after Chaya, her niece that died a hero. | |||
| == Themes == | |||
| Hannah experiences a ] to experience the past. The novel employs ] as a plot device and both a method for remembering and for the reader to more deeply feel the story. Yolen believed children would be more likely to engage with the past if the novel featured a contemporary child who went back in time and experienced history themselves.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=An Experimental Act |url=https://www.spectacle.org/396/scifi/exper.html |access-date=2020-12-18 |website=www.spectacle.org}}</ref> | |||
| == Reception == | |||
| ''The Devil's Arithmetic'' received a ] from Kirkus, which called it "a triumphantly moving book".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jane-yolen/the-devils-arithmetic/|title=THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|language=en}}</ref> '']'' called the book "brave and powerful".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-670-81027-7|access-date=2020-12-18|website=www.publishersweekly.com|title=Children's Book Review: The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, Author Viking Books $16.99 (170p) ISBN 978-0-670-81027-7}}</ref> | |||
| In '']'', Cynthia Samuels said that Yolen's use of the time travel convention was brought to "a new and ambitious level".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Samuels|first=Cynthia|date=1988-11-13|title=CHILDREN'S BOOKS; HANNAH LEARNS TO REMEMBER (Published 1988)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/13/books/children-s-books-hannah-learns-to-remember.html|access-date=2020-12-18|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | ''The Devil's Arithmetic'' was nominated for the ] in 1988<ref>{{cite web |date=May 18, 2003 |title=(Awards & Nominations) |url=http://janeyolen.com/awards/ |access-date=April 29, 2012 |publisher=Jane Yolen}}</ref> and won the ] (in the ] category) in 1989.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Past Winners |url=https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/awards/national-jewish-book-awards/past-winners?category=30737 |access-date=2020-01-20 |website=Jewish Book Council |language=en}}</ref> The script for the television movie was also nominated for a ].<ref name=":0" /> | ||
| == Adaptations == | |||
| The novel was adapted into a 1999 ] television ], starring ] and ].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|date=April 15, 2000|title=Year 2000 Nebula Nominations (Press Release)|url=http://www.sfwa.org/members/nebula/NEBPub1.doc|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121201233816/http://www.sfwa.org/members/nebula/NEBPub1.doc|archive-date=December 1, 2012|access-date=February 21, 2011|publisher=SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America) }}</ref> | |||
| == Further reading == | |||
| * Weil, E. (1993). "The Door to Lilith's Cave: Memory and Imagination in Jane Yolen's Holocaust Novels." '']''. 5(2), 90. | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
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Latest revision as of 06:41, 21 October 2024
1988 children's time slip novel by Jane YolenThis article is about the novel. For the TV movie, see The Devil's Arithmetic (film).
 | |
| Author | Jane Yolen |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction, fantasy, time slip |
| Publisher | Viking |
| Publication date | 1988 |
| Publication place | United States of America |
| ISBN | 0-670-81027-4 |
The Devil's Arithmetic is a historical fiction time slip novel written by American author Jane Yolen and published in 1988. The book is about Hannah Stern, a Jewish girl who lives in New Rochelle, New York, and is sent back in time to experience the Holocaust. During a Passover Seder, Hannah is transported back in time to 1941 Poland, during World War II, where she is sent to a concentration camp and learns the importance of knowing about the past.
Background
Author Jane Yolen, who is Jewish, noted that she had considered writing about the Holocaust for some time, but was overwhelmed. She was convinced to pursue the subject by an editor of hers at the time, who was a Rabbi's wife. The Devil's Arithmetic is the author's first book that deals explicitly with Jewish themes.
While writing the novel, Yolen spent a week at an Indianapolis private school; when she explained to students about her forthcoming work, one student asked if Yolen had made up the events of the novel, based on the real story of the Holocaust.
Plot
Hannah Stern is a Jewish preteen girl living in the present day. She is bored by her relative's stories about the past, is not looking forward to the Passover Seder, and is tired of her religion. When Hannah symbolically opens the door for the prophet Elijah, she is transported back in time to a shtetl on the Polish/German border in 1942, during World War II. Hannah is not immediately aware of the time period.
At that time and place, the people believe she is Chaya Abramowicz, who is recovering from cholera, the fever that killed Chaya's parents a few months ago. The strange remarks Hannah/Chaya makes about the future and her inability to recognize Chaya's aunt Gitl and uncle Shmuel are blamed on the fever.
At Uncle Shmuel's wedding, the Nazis come to transport the entire population of the village to a death camp near Donavin, and only Hannah knows all the terrors they will face: starvation, mistreatment, forced labor, and finally execution.
Hannah and the other women are stripped, shaved, and tattooed with a number. Hannah and the other women are forced to dig trenches in the camp. Hannah struggles to survive at the camp, with the help of a girl named Rivka. Uncle Shmuel and some other men try to escape; the men are caught and then shot as everyone watches. Fayge, who was going to be married to Shmuel, is killed because she runs to Shmuel when he is about to be shot with the men that were caught. Yitzchak escapes and lives in the forest with the partisans, fighting the Germans.
Later, when Hannah, Rivka, Esther, and Shifre are working, a guard overhears them talking instead of working. Shifre tries to reassure the guard they have been working, but he takes them anyway and leaves Hannah by herself. As the three are about to leave, Hannah takes Rivka's place by putting on her babushka. Since the guards don't know their faces, this goes unnoticed by the officer. The girls are led to the gas chamber. She is then transported back to her family's Seder. Aunt Eva calls her over. Hannah looks at Aunt Eva's number; it is the same as Rivka's. Hannah (when she was Chaya) was really the girl she was named after, Rivka was Aunt Eva, and Rivka's brother, Wolfe, was Grandpa Will. (Aunt Eva said that they changed their names when they got to America.)
The epilogue at the end of the novel reveals that when the camp was liberated, the survivors were Gitl (weighing a mere 73 pounds ), Yitzchak, Rivka, and Leye (a worker in the camp) and her baby. Gitl and Yitzchak immigrate to Israel where Yitzchak becomes a politician while Gitl organizes a rescue mission that is dedicated to salvaging the lives of young survivors and locating family members. The organization is named after Chaya, her niece that died a hero.
Themes
Hannah experiences a time slip to experience the past. The novel employs time travel as a plot device and both a method for remembering and for the reader to more deeply feel the story. Yolen believed children would be more likely to engage with the past if the novel featured a contemporary child who went back in time and experienced history themselves.
Reception
The Devil's Arithmetic received a starred review from Kirkus, which called it "a triumphantly moving book". Publishers Weekly called the book "brave and powerful".
In The New York Times, Cynthia Samuels said that Yolen's use of the time travel convention was brought to "a new and ambitious level".
The Devil's Arithmetic was nominated for the Nebula award for best novella in 1988 and won the National Jewish Book Award (in the children's literature category) in 1989. The script for the television movie was also nominated for a Nebula Award.
Adaptations
The novel was adapted into a 1999 Showtime television film with the same title, starring Kirsten Dunst and Brittany Murphy.
Further reading
- Weil, E. (1993). "The Door to Lilith's Cave: Memory and Imagination in Jane Yolen's Holocaust Novels." Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. 5(2), 90.
References
- Yolen, Jane. "Devil's Arithmetic, The – Jane Yolen". Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- ^ Yolen, Jane (1989–1990). "Speech Delivered at the Sydney Taylor Book Awards". Judaica Librarianship. 5 (1): 52.
- "An Experimental Act". www.spectacle.org. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC | Kirkus Reviews.
- "Children's Book Review: The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, Author Viking Books $16.99 (170p) ISBN 978-0-670-81027-7". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- Samuels, Cynthia (November 13, 1988). "CHILDREN'S BOOKS; HANNAH LEARNS TO REMEMBER (Published 1988)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
- "(Awards & Nominations)". Jane Yolen. May 18, 2003. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
- "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ "Year 2000 Nebula Nominations (Press Release)". SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America). April 15, 2000. Archived from the original on December 1, 2012. Retrieved February 21, 2011.