Flares of Memory (edition 2001)

The stories were all very well chosen and extremely well written (I'm guessing ghost writers because there's no way EVERY Holocaust surviver they found just HAPPENED to be an excellent, thoughtful and creative writer). The editor's introductions to each chapter annoyed me greatly; she told you what kind of lesson you should take away from each story and even gave away some of the endings. She should have ONLY explained the unifying theme in each chapter. ( )

I think it should be said that most of the contributors to this book were in their mid to late teens during the Holocaust, and several were in their twenties. So they were not little children like the title implies. A more accurate title would be "Stories of Young People During the Holocaust."

That said, this is an excellent selection of short pieces spotlighting the Holocaust at different times and in different parts of Europe. The accounts cover everything from pre-Holocaust days up until readjusting to normal life following the liberation, and they include many European countries including Lithuania, Belgium, Greece, Italy and more, not just the usual Germany and Poland. ( )