The Devil's Arithmetic

Yolen, Jane
Puffin (April 12, 2004)

*Appropriate for grades 4-8*

Hannah is tired of remembering her family's past. Her Grandpa Will and Aunt Eva have strange tattoos on their arms, Grandpa raves like a lunatic, and now she has to go participate in the family seder, when she could be at the mall with her best friend. While performing the ritual of opening the door to welcome Elijah, Hannah is mysteriously transported from modern-day New Rochelle into Poland, 1942. Everyone calls Hannah "Chaya." She finds herself living with her supposed Aunt Gitl and Uncle Shmuel. On the day of Shmuel's wedding, the entire family is taken by the Nazis to a concentration camp, where they must learn to become survivors in the midst of brutal cruelty and inhumane living conditions.

• Use The Devil's Arithmetic as part of a unit teaching the Holocaust. The reader faces the same horrors that Hannah/Chaya must survive, and life within concentration camps is presented in a truthful, authentic way.
• Ask students to explore the concept of "bearing witness." Why is it important that we remember the Holocaust today?
• Have students keep a journal of Hannah/Chaya's experiences throughout the reading of the book. This journal should reflect life in the concentration camp, specifically: her possessions, her work, the rules of the camp, the food, and the daily activities she was allowed to engage in.