
Friends to the Rescue
Ellen Schwartz(Author)
Apples and Honey Press
Published on 31. October 2024
Book
Hardback
160 pages
978-1-68115-641-5 (ISBN)
Description
Winner of the 2025 Western Canada Jewish Book Award Diamond Foundation Prize
Holocaust survivors are depicted as more than just victims in this historical fiction novel for middle grade readers.
Inspired by a true story, and told in two different time periods, Friends to the Rescue takes place in Fossa, Italy, a small mountain village that offered refuge to Jews during World War II. When the village suffered a devastating earthquake 65 years later, the Jewish refugees whom the town had helped traveled to Fossa to return the favor.
On April 6, 2009, Luca and his grandfather Roberto were eating lunch together in their quiet home in Fossa, Italy when disaster struck. An earthquake shook the house, forcing them to scramble out and into the streets. As wave after wave trembled the ground, Luca watched as his home and small village fell to rubble.
In the days ahead, with roads impassable, the village was cut off from the rest of the world. Luca and his neighbors needed to work together to survive. Nurses, doctors, and Luca's grandfather Roberto tended to the wounded, while others scoured the ruins of homes and businesses to look for food and water. It took four days for aid to arrive. When the rescue workers came, they brought welcomed surprise visitors.
During World War II, Luca's grandfather Roberto, then just a boy, had helped in another type of rescue. One afternoon, Roberto found his parents clearing out their basement pantry and replacing food with beds. They told him there would be visitors coming to stay with them for a while . . . visitors that must remain hidden. A family of Jews from Rome moved into their pantry, seeking refuge from the German armies that were now in Italy. Their young daughter Sara and Roberto became the closest of friends but lost touch after the war. It would take an emergency to bring them back together.
Holocaust survivors are depicted as more than just victims in this historical fiction novel for middle grade readers.
Inspired by a true story, and told in two different time periods, Friends to the Rescue takes place in Fossa, Italy, a small mountain village that offered refuge to Jews during World War II. When the village suffered a devastating earthquake 65 years later, the Jewish refugees whom the town had helped traveled to Fossa to return the favor.
On April 6, 2009, Luca and his grandfather Roberto were eating lunch together in their quiet home in Fossa, Italy when disaster struck. An earthquake shook the house, forcing them to scramble out and into the streets. As wave after wave trembled the ground, Luca watched as his home and small village fell to rubble.
In the days ahead, with roads impassable, the village was cut off from the rest of the world. Luca and his neighbors needed to work together to survive. Nurses, doctors, and Luca's grandfather Roberto tended to the wounded, while others scoured the ruins of homes and businesses to look for food and water. It took four days for aid to arrive. When the rescue workers came, they brought welcomed surprise visitors.
During World War II, Luca's grandfather Roberto, then just a boy, had helped in another type of rescue. One afternoon, Roberto found his parents clearing out their basement pantry and replacing food with beds. They told him there would be visitors coming to stay with them for a while . . . visitors that must remain hidden. A family of Jews from Rome moved into their pantry, seeking refuge from the German armies that were now in Italy. Their young daughter Sara and Roberto became the closest of friends but lost touch after the war. It would take an emergency to bring them back together.
Reviews / Votes
"With charm-ing illus-tra-tions, this mid-dle-grade nov-el por-trays dan-ger, friend-ship, hope, and hero-ism inan age-appro-pri-ate way. It sheds light on a lit-tle-known episode of World War II his-to-ry and hon-ors the Ital-ian town whose peo-ple were deemed Right-eous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem."-Jewish Book Council"Clocking in at just over 100 pages, this is a great story for historical fiction fans, or children just beginning to learn about the Holocaust and its effects. While the book does not center the Jewish experience as much as it possibly should for a Holocaust story, the values of gratitude, and helping others make up for that deficit. Back matter includes a historical note about the actual earthquake in Italy. This title is recommended for school, synagogue, and public libraries serving middle-grade readers." -Association of Jewish Libraries
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Behrman House Inc.,U.S.
Target group
Children/juvenile
Interest Age: From 9 years
Product notice
Trade binding
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 193 mm
Width: 137 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
295 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-68115-641-5 (9781681156415)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Ellen Schwartz is the author of 18 award-winning books for children, as well as one non-fiction book for adults, a collection of profiles of women singer-songwriters. Ellen's children's books range from picture books through middle-grade novels and young adult fiction and information books. In addition to writing books, Ellen works as a corporate writer and editor and as a freelance magazine writer. She has published hundreds of magazine articles. Ellen has taught creative writing classes for many years at the college and university levels. She lives in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Alison Mutton earned a BA with Honors in Design from Curtin University, focusing on illustration. She specializes in children's illustration, including fairytale-style fantasy and historically-inspired illustration. She uses a variety of mediums in her work- pencil, watercolour, coloured pencil, ink, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Fresco, Adobe Illustrator and Procreate. She has worked on over 100 books for ReadyEd Publications and has been illustrating picture books since 2014. She is based in Perth, Western Australia.
Alison Mutton earned a BA with Honors in Design from Curtin University, focusing on illustration. She specializes in children's illustration, including fairytale-style fantasy and historically-inspired illustration. She uses a variety of mediums in her work- pencil, watercolour, coloured pencil, ink, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Fresco, Adobe Illustrator and Procreate. She has worked on over 100 books for ReadyEd Publications and has been illustrating picture books since 2014. She is based in Perth, Western Australia.