Mapping the Bones

by Jane Yolen Narrated by Josh Bloomberg, Rebecca Gibel

Overview

From the bestselling and award-winning author of The Devil's Arithmetic, Jane Yolen, comes her first Holocaust novel in nearly thirty years. Influenced by Dr. Mengele's sadistic experimentations, this story follows twins as they travel from the Lodz ghetto, to the partisans in the forest, to a horrific concentration camp where they lose everything but each other.



It's 1942 in Poland, and the world is coming to pieces. At least that's how it seems to Chaim and Gittel, twins whose lives feel like a fairy tale torn apart, with evil witches, forbidden forests, and dangerous ovens looming on the horizon. But in all darkness there is light, and the twins find it through Chaim's poetry and the love they have for each other. Like the bright flame of a Yahrzeit candle, his words become a beacon of memory so that the children and grandchildren of survivors will never forget the atrocities that happened during the Holocaust.



Filled with brutality and despair, this is also a story of poetry and strength, in which a brother and sister lose everything but each other. Nearly thirty years after the publication of her award-winning and bestselling The Devil's Arithmetic and Briar Rose, Yolen once again returns to World War II and captivates audiences with the authenticity and power of her words.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

12/18/2017
Yolen (The Devil’s Arithmetic) returns to the horrors of WWII and the Holocaust in this expansive, eloquent novel about siblings Chaim and Gittel Abromowitz, 14-year-old twins connected by a secret language and a fierce love for each other. Their Jewish family has been relocated to the Lódz ghetto in Poland, stuffed into a small apartment with another family, the difficult Norenbergs, including children Sophie and Bruno. As the situation in the ghetto worsens and Dr. Norenberg disappears, Chaim pawns his mother’s engagement ring so both families can make a dangerous escape into the forest and, eventually, across the border into the Soviet Union. Before long, the children are separated from their parents, by death and the partisans (Nazi resisters) who help them make the crossing. Yolen’s Briar Rose combined the tragedies of the Holocaust with the story of Sleeping Beauty; the echoes of Hansel and Gretel in Chaim and Gittel’s harrowing journey are equally effective, and no less horrific. Interludes highlighting Gittel’s memories and Chaim’s poetry provide glimpses of hope and brightness amid the cruelties the children endure. Ages 12–up. Agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. (Mar.)

From the Publisher

Praise for Mapping the Bones:

"Jane Yolen’s Mapping the Bones is a swift and deadly drama with overtones of dark fable we all wish we could forget. But this book, a shining star held in a trembling palm, requires us to remember." —Gregory Maguire, internationally bestselling author of Wicked
 
"Mapping the Bones is spare and beautiful and haunting. Jane Yolen has created a masterpiece." —Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of The War That Saved My Life

"Master storyteller Jane Yolen has outdone herself. This is a compelling, important, necessary, and timely book that deserves the widest audience possible." —Lesléa Newman, award-winning author of Still Life with Buddy

"In the hands of the superb Jane Yolen, folklore and fact connect in a harrowing testimony to horror and to love. Brutal, relentless, prophetic, and full of truth." —Elizabeth Wein, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Verity

"A compassionate, unflinching, unforgettable Nazi labor camp Hansel & Gretel tale woven by America’s finest spinner of Holocaust stories for young readers." —Julie Berry, author of the Printz Honor Book The Passion of Dolssa

"[An] expansive, eloquent novel." —Publishers Weekly

"Yolen does a superb job of dramatizing the horrors of WWII and the Holocaust, bringing vivid fear and suspense to her captivating story. It makes for altogether memorable and essential reading." —Booklist

"[A] breath-taking and heartbreaking look at the horrors of war and the lengths people go to overcome." —Voice of Youth Advocates

"Fans of Yolen’s The Devil’s Arithmetic will be engrossed in this story until the last page." —School Library Journal

"[A] well-rounded story of a very difficult time that shows the resiliency of these young people." —School Library Connection

School Library Journal

02/01/2018
Gr 6 Up—"To die was easy, to live was harder." Thus begins the story of Chaim and Gittel, Jewish twin siblings living during the time of the Nazi regime. Almost-mute Chaim and his sister struggle through everyday life during World War II. The decisions they make each day, even those that are minute, will affect their chances of survival. "We have chosen the more difficult path, that of life, now we must walk it." The siblings rely on each other and their uncanny ability to understand the other's thoughts through their own sign language. The relationship will engross readers as they are drawn to the unimaginable circumstances with which the children are faced. Readers may find some of the content depressing and emotional though necessary to maintain the authenticity of the time and setting in which the story takes place. Fans of Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic will be engrossed in this story until the last page. Those who appreciate historical fiction, specifically works set during World War II, will find this an important addition. VERDICT History teachers and librarians alike will want to add this selection to their World War II—era collections.—Megan Honeycutt, University of West GeorgiaHigh School

Kirkus Review

2017-12-21
A Holocaust tale with a thin "Hansel and Gretel" veneer from the author of The Devil's Arithmetic (1988).Chaim and Gittel, 14-year-old twins, live with their parents in the Lodz ghetto, forced from their comfortable country home by the Nazis. The siblings are close, sharing a sign-based twin language; Chaim stutters and communicates primarily with his sister. Though slowly starving, they make the best of things with their beloved parents, although it's more difficult once they must share their tiny flat with an unpleasant interfaith couple and their Mischling (half-Jewish) children. When the family hears of their impending "wedding invitation"—the ghetto idiom for a forthcoming order for transport—they plan a dangerous escape. Their journey is difficult, and one by one, the adults vanish. Ultimately the children end up in a fictional child labor camp, making ammunition for the German war effort. Their story effectively evokes the dehumanizing nature of unremitting silence. Nevertheless, the dense, distancing narrative (told in a third-person contemporaneous narration focused through Chaim with interspersed snippets from Gittel's several-decades-later perspective) has several consistency problems, mostly regarding the relative religiosity of this nominally secular family. One theme seems to be frustration with those who didn't fight back against overwhelming odds, which makes for a confusing judgment on the suffering child protagonists.Stands out neither as a folk-tale retelling, a coming-of-age story, nor a Holocaust novel. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 12-14)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178465905
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	01/19/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	1,259,964

Read an Excerpt

Photograph of a Dead Child on the Street
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Mapping the Bones"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Jane Yolen.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Young Readers Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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