Children/juvenile: Interest age, years 9 - 12, US school grade range 4 - 7

Pretty, carefree Aurelia Gamser (known today as Ruth Gruener) had an idyllic life in 1930s Poland -- until violent acts of anti-Semitism and the deportation of Jewish families to concentration camps changed everything in her world. Hiding out with a gentile family, her very life at risk every day, Ruth struggled to remain strong and sane. And though she was destined to live, her struggle continued after the war, when she began a new life in America, as a teenager who had been through horrors. This memoir will inspire countless readers and bestow important lessons about life, hope, and memory.