From Publishers Weekly
A young girl's experience of the Nazi pogrom in her Polish hometown is related with an immediacy undimmed by time in her autobiography. In 1942, the author and her family undergo a brutal separation. Thirteen-year-old Alicia escapes her captors, fleeing through fields and woods, encountering fellow refugees and occasionally finding safe harbors. Although she sees her mother's wanton murder and endures physical and mental deprivation, the teenager is supported by faith in family and in the goodness of people. Capable of rallying others, she eventually heads a group who settle in Palestine. In 1949, she marries an American in Haifa and moves to the United States. Long and on occasion rambling, her story contributes to an infamous history as a tale, not only of survival, but of active resistance to oppression. Major ad/promo. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
A Polish Jew, the author re-creates her efforts to survive in Nazi-dominated, war-torn Poland. Between the ages of ten and 15, she suffered terrible hardships and encountered numerous brushes with death. This is a potentially useful addition to Holocaust literature, for although she never experienced the death camps, Appleman-Jurman lived in constant peril and managed to survive only through an extraordinary combination of luck and street sense. Unfortunately, the heavy use of dialogue reconstructed more than 40 years later has an unsettling effect on the mood and plausibility of this interesting and frequently horrifying survival narrative. Still, public libraries should consider. Mark R. Yerburgh, Trinity Coll. Lib., Burlington, Vt.Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Jesse Larsen
Alicia Jurman was born in Buczacz, Poland, in 1930, the daughter of orthodox Jewish parents. Alicia's family had a long history in Poland; her father ran a successful mercantile business which supported the family comfortably, and the Jewish population was large and close enough to create culture, community, and a sense of security for Alicia and her three brothers. Racist anti-semitism was a fact of life the family almost learned to ignore until 1938, when the Germans invaded Poland and occupied Buczacz and one brother was killed. In 1939 the Russians drove the Germans out; another brother died. In 1941 the Germans returned; within a year, Alicia was the last living member of her family. In compelling detail, Alicia describes hiding in fields, finding food, narrowly escaping from prison and firing squads, helping others escape, searching for survivors of her family. Written in straightforward, non-political, and graceful narrative, this is the story eleven-year-old Alicia swore she would someday tell: "Through the story of 'Alicia' I wish to reach out, not only to survivors like myself, but to all people. ... I believe that the book will teach young people what enormous reserves of strength they possess within themselves." -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.

ANNOTATION

After losing her entire family to the Nazis at age 13, Alicia Appleman-Jurman went on to save the lives of thousands of Jews, offering them her own courage and hope in a time of upheaval and tragedy. Not since The Diary of Anne Frank has a young voice so vividly expressed the capacity for humanity and heroism in the face of Nazi brutality.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

A young girl's experience of the Nazi pogrom in her Polish hometown is related with an immediacy undimmed by time in her autobiography. In 1942, the author and her family undergo a brutal separation. Thirteen-year-old Alicia escapes her captors, fleeing through fields and woods, encountering fellow refugees and occasionally finding safe harbors. Although she sees her mother's wanton murder and endures physical and mental deprivation, the teenager is supported by faith in family and in the goodness of people. Capable of rallying others, she eventually heads a group who settle in Palestine. In 1949, she marries an American in Haifa and moves to the United States. Long and on occasion rambling, her story contributes to an infamous history as a tale, not only of survival, but of active resistance to oppression. Major ad/promo. (Nov.)

Library Journal

A Polish Jew, the author re-creates her efforts to survive in Nazi-dominated, war-torn Poland. Between the ages of ten and 15, she suffered terrible hardships and encountered numerous brushes with death. This is a potentially useful addition to Holocaust literature, for although she never experienced the death camps, Appleman-Jurman lived in constant peril and managed to survive only through an extraordinary combination of luck and street sense. Unfortunately, the heavy use of dialogue reconstructed more than 40 years later has an unsettling effect on the mood and plausibility of this interesting and frequently horrifying survival narrative. Still, public libraries should consider. Mark R. Yerburgh, Trinity Coll. Lib., Burlington, Vt.

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