Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine

Hana's Suitcase

The Quest to Solve a Holocaust Mystery

Karen Levine

Random House Children's Books · Print & ebook · January 5, 2016

This award-winning true Holocaust story, newly updated, connects generations through one woman’s quest to find the truth behind a mysterious suitcase.

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Who it’s for
An investigative search and a life story intertwine in a moving account of Holocaust history.
Themes
Holocaust history, Family separation, Searching for identity
Genres
Holocaust for Kids, Historical Biographies for Kids

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About this book

This award-winning true Holocaust story, newly updated, connects generations through one woman’s quest to find the truth behind a mysterious suitcase. In March 2000, Fumiko Ishioka, the curator of a small Holocaust education center in Tokyo, received an empty suitcase from the museum at Auschwitz. On the outside, in white paint, were the words “Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, Orphan.”

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Fumiko and the children at the center were determined to find out who Hana was and what happened to her all those years ago, leading them to a startling and emotional discovery. The dual narrative intertwines Fumiko’s international journey to find the truth about Hana Brady’s fate with Hana’s own compelling story of her life in a quiet Czech town, which is shattered by the arrival of the Nazis, tearing apart the family she loves. This suspense-filled work of investigative nonfiction draws in young readers and makes them active participants in the search for Hana’s identity. Praise for Hana’s Suitcase • “Hana wanted to become a teacher, and surely through this little book her dream is being realized.” —Archbishop Desmond Tutu, from his new foreword to Hana’s Suitcase • “The account . . . is part history, part suspenseful mystery . . . with an incredible climactic revelation.” —Booklist

A Search Across Generations

An investigative search and a life story intertwine in a moving account of Holocaust history.

Come here for

  • The pull of a real-life mystery
  • Two connected stories, across generations

Expect

  • Serious history told with suspense
  • An emotional journey toward discovery

Where it sits

Holocaust for Kids96%
Historical Biographies for Kids89%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Historical Biographies for Kids
  • Holocaust for Kids
  • Sociology for Kids
Authors
Karen Levine
Publisher
Random House Children's Books
Published
January 5, 2016
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Holocaust history · Family separation · Searching for identity
Reading lane
Historical Biographies for Kids