Jane Yolen

Contact: Nancy DelVecchio (978)568-9644 ndelvecc@cwmars.org Join us for snacks at the Teen book club as we discuss The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. Call or email Nancy to sign up. From School Library Journal: In this novel, Yolen attempts to answer those who question why the Holocaust should be ... (more)remembered. Hannah, 12, is tired of remembering, and is embarrassed by her grandfather, who rants and raves at the mention of the Nazis. Her mother's explanations of how her grandparents and great-aunt lost all family and friends during that time have little effect. Then, during a Passover Seder, Hannah is chosen to open the door to welcome the prophet Elijah. As she does so, she is transported to a village in Poland in the 1940s, where everyone thinks that she is Chaya, who has just recovered from a serious illness. She is captured by the Nazis and taken to a death camp, where she is befriended by a young girl named Rivka, who teaches her how to fight the dehumanizing processes of the camp and hold onto her identity. When at last their luck runs out and Rivka is chosen, Hannah/Chaya, in an almost impulsive act of self-sacrifice, goes in her stead.Through Hannah, with her memories of the present and the past, Yolen does a fine job of illustrating the importance of remembering. She adds much to children's understanding of the effects of the Holocaust, which will reverberate throughout history, today and tomorrow.

One of our favorite children's book authors will join us to speak and tell stories and sign books. Her latest is How Do Dinosaurs Say I Love You? and she has new Christmas stories, ballet stories, stories about scarecrows, and many others to share!

The library is excited to welcome the prolific author Jane Yolen to the Watertown Savings Bank Room Friday, September 19 at 3 pm.

Yolen, the award winning author of nearly three-hundred works written for children, teens and adults, will showcase her highly praised new title, Sea Queens: Women ... (more)Pirates Around the World (Charlesbridge, 2008), which garnered a starred review in Kirkus Reviews. Children will be familiar with such works as How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and Owl Moon while teens and adults may recognize her works of fantasy such as the Mythopoeic Society Fantasy Award winning Briar Rose.

Ms. Yolen will be available for book signing following a lecture. No registration required.

"The book is filled with fascinating dramatically told stories."Booklist

"Yolen tells the tales of 13 female pirates, from Persia to China, from 500 years before the Common Era to the 19th century. Not only does she tell them vividly, she also strives to untangle fact from fiction, history from ... (more)legend, highlighting the telling details that will draw kids in."Kirkus Reviews

Jane Yolen s the award-winning author of nearly three hundred children's books, including Snow, Snow: Winter Poems and The Rogues. She has been called the Hans Christian Andersen of the Americas. Jane lives in Western Massachusetts and Scotland.