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The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
When a modern teenager is thrust into the past, she must confront a history she’s only read about—and find courage she didn’t know she had. Blending time travel with a searing coming-of-age story, The Devil’s Arithmetic turns memory into a lifeline and makes the past feel startlingly present.
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In The Devil’s Arithmetic, did you enjoy ...
... a time-slip that throws a modern girl into a dangerous past where she must learn to survive?
The Root Cellar by Janet Lunn
If the moment Hannah opens the door for Elijah and is thrust into 1940s Poland hooked you, you’ll love how The Root Cellar hurls Rose from the present into the American Civil War. Like Hannah becoming Chaya and learning Rivka’s hard-won rules to endure the camp, Rose must adapt fast—navigating scarcity, suspicion, and wartime loss—to save the people who’ve taken her in. It’s that same haunting blend of ordinary life shattered by history and a young heroine forced to grow brave in another era.
... the moral imperative to remember—and the quiet courage of ordinary people under Nazi occupation?
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Hannah’s transformation into Chaya teaches her why remembering matters—right down to trading herself for Rivka and carrying names like Gitl and Shmuel in her heart. In Number the Stars, Annemarie learns similar courage as she helps her Jewish friend Ellen escape Denmark. The book’s gentle but firm insistence on doing what’s right under impossible pressure echoes the way Hannah returns to her family Seder forever changed—aware that memory and action are sacred duties.
... the harrowing, day-to-day struggle to endure the camps and bear witness?
Night by Elie Wiesel
If you were gripped by the camp sequences—Rivka teaching Hannah how to hide her hair, guard her shoes, and memorize numbers to stay alive—Night delivers the raw, unflinching reality behind those rules. Wiesel recounts starvation, selections, and the fragile threads of family and faith that mirror Hannah/Chaya’s barracks life. It’s a devastating companion read for the survival lessons that shaped Hannah’s sacrifice and her understanding of Aunt Eva/Rivka when she returns.
... a child’s forced maturation amid the Holocaust, seen through a young, confused outsider’s eyes?
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
Hannah arrives as Chaya naive to what’s coming and must grow up quickly—learning from Rivka, grieving for Fayge and Shmuel, and choosing to act. In Milkweed, the orphaned Misha—streetwise but innocent—navigates the Warsaw Ghetto, misreading danger until the truth hardens him into someone who can protect others. If you connected with Hannah’s abrupt coming-of-age and the cost of understanding, Misha’s transformation will grip you the same way.
... a profoundly affecting blend of loss, love, and remembrance under the shadow of Nazi Germany?
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Hannah’s final choice—stepping into the line in Rivka’s place—and her return to the Seder with the truth about Aunt Eva deliver a gut-punch of empathy and memory. The Book Thief offers a similarly powerful payoff: Liesel’s bond with Hans, her friendship with Rudy, and the hidden pages shared with Max in the Hubermanns’ basement build to an ending that lingers. If that emotional crescendo in Hannah/Chaya’s story moved you, Liesel’s will, too.
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