The Devil’s Arithmetic

This is an okay book written by Jane Yolen. When thirteen-year-old Hannah reluctantly celebrates the Passover Seder with her family, she wonders why she, a modern American teenager, must take part in such a meaningless ritual. At the end of the ceremony, feeling like a fraud, she opens the door for Elijah. But as the knob turns, she is transported back to 1942 Poland and a concentration camp is waiting to swallow the baffled young woman.

If there was a way to witness what Jews went through during the Holocaust, I think it would be beneficial to a lot of people to see what true evil looks like. It would also be interesting to go back in time and try to remember everything you had been taught about that era. The novel won the National Jewish Book Award in the category for children's literature in 1989. It was made into TV movie starring Kirsten Dunst and Brittany Murphy in 1999.