Paper Hearts

Amid the brutality of Auschwitz during the Holocaust, a forbidden gift helps two teenage girls find hope, friendship, and the will to live in this novel in verse that's based on a true story.

An act of defiance.
A statement of hope.
A crime punishable by death.

Making a birthday card in Auschwitz was all of those things. But that is what Zlatka did, in 1944, for her best friend, Fania. She stole and bartered for paper and scissors, secretly creating an origami heart. Then she passed it to every girl at the work tables to sign with their hopes and wishes for happiness, for love, and most of all--for freedom.

Fania knew what that heart meant, for herself and all the other girls. And she kept it hidden, through the bitter days in the camp and through the death marches. She kept it always.

This novel is based on the true story of Fania and Zlatka, the story of the bond that helped them both to hope for the best in the face of the worst. Their heart is one of the few objects created in Auschwitz, and can be seen today in the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published: 09/01/2015
ISBN: 9781481439831
Pages: 352
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.50w x 1.30d
Award: Cybils - Finalist

Review Citations: School Library Journal 09/01/2015 pg. 162
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2015 pg. 177
Voice of Youth Advocates 10/01/2015 - Recommended - Hard To Beat

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 179350 / Paper Hearts
Reading Level: 4.3 / Interest Level: Middle Grade Plus / Point Value: 3