The Year of Goodbyes by Debbie Levy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. I'm only a few pages in but already crying. Evocative and beautiful, without terrorizing. A really good Holocaust book for younger readers not ready for graphic histories.

"Father used to say, 'Things will get better.' He doesn't say that anymore."

The things children think about as they mourn the loss of their normal lives -- "Who will get my roller skates?" -- will help young readers understand and feel the losses of even those who lived.

"We are here in America. This will be home now. No Nazi soldiers, but also no friends."

The follow up in the back of all the people who wrote in Jutta's posiealbum is so meaningful. We want to know what happened, how each of them are. For each real person who got out of Germany, there are tears or relief. Levy's telling of the seven girls from her mother's school who gathered for a reunion in their 60s is incredible.

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