The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia by Esther Hautzig

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The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia

by Esther Hautzig

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Conversations
432	3	11,746	(3.97)	5

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I read this when I was 12 and have never forgotten it. A rereading this year confirmed its power for me and it seemed to strike my children the same way

annmckillop | Oct 21, 2008 |

The author describes her experiences during World War II when she and her family were arrested by the Russians and sent to work in he Siberian gypsum mines. (

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STBA | Oct 14, 2007 |

This is a wonderful book, one I read many times in my youth. It's the story of Esther (I think that's her name), a Jewish girl whose family is sent to live on a camp in Siberia. Her life there was difficult, to say the least (although in retrospect, I can see that she fared better than many others in her situation during that war). A touching, inspiring book, one I'd probably like to read again one of these days. (

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herebedragons | Jan 27, 2007 |

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Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Awards and honors

Sydney Taylor Book Award (1968)

National Book Award finalist (Children's Literature, 1969)

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (1971)

A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (1969)

Epigraph

Dedication

This story would not have been told without the help of many, many people. It is gratefully dedicated to all of them.

First words

The morning it happened - the end of my lovely world - I did not water the lilac bush outside my father's study.

Quotations

Those of us who were lucky enough to have had a slice of that watermelon that night - like me - must count it the most delectable food ever eaten anyplace by anyone.

I bent my head closer to the vines; I didn't want to see the dunce. But as a member of the collective dunce, I too called out, "No, no." We were not humanitarians; we were just hungry children who didn't want to starve, and I think it likely that collectively we had it in us to stone the next child who pulled a potato.

Later, I would occasionally watch my mother work with the jack hammer, but the woman whose guts seemed about to be shaken out of her, whose face was contorted to ugliness, would seem a stranger.

Hadn't I learned by now that it was not all that easy to die?

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 006447027X, Paperback)

In the bitter desolation of Siberia, Esther and her family fight to stay alive.

It is June 1941. The Rudomin family has been arrested by the Russians. They are "capitalists--enemies of the people." Forced from their home and friends in Vilna, Poland, they are herded into crowded cattle cars. Their destination: the endless steppe of Siberia.

For five years, Esther and her family live in exile, weeding potato fields and working in the mines, struggling for enough food and clothing to stay alive. Only the strength of family sustains them and gives them hope for the future.

Notable Children's Books of 1968 (ALA)
1968 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor Book
Outstanding Children's Books of 1968 (NYT)
1969 Jane Addams Award
1971 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
Nominee, 1969 National Book Award for Children's Literature
1969 Shirley Kravitz Children's Book Award
1987 Deutsche Jugenliteraturpreis (German Youth Literature Prize) "Honorable List"
1969 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:52 -0400)

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