Ruth Minsky Sender

A testament to the enduring strength of the human spirit, family, and, above all, hope, this “vivid memoir of a woman who lost her youth and family to the Nazis” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) is a Holocaust survival story that will be remembered for generations. As long as there is life, there is hope… After Riva’s mother was taken away by the Nazis, Riva and her younger brothers were left to cling to their mother’s brave words to help them endure life in the Lodz ghetto. Then the family is rounded up, deported to Auschwitz, and separated. Now Riva is alone. At Auschwitz, and later in the work camps at Mittlesteine and Grafenort, Riva vows to live, and to hope—for Mama, for her brothers, for the millions of other victims of the nightmare of the Holocaust. And through determination and courage, and unexpected small acts of kindness, she does live. And this unforgettable memoir of love, strength, and survival is her story.

The Cage

Lacy W

Mom Mondays is a bi weekly segment here on a ravenclaw library. Click here to learn more details about this segment and how you can do this with your family! 

note: My mom knows that the Holocaust is one of my favorite events to study and one of my first loves of history. (Thank Danielle Steel’s book, Echoes, for that.) Hence why Mom picks up Holocaust books for me whenever she can. She also does this really awesome thing (that she should totally keep doing because I really like it!) where if she is at a dollar store or something like that, she will pick up a book for me. This is one of those selections. My mom knows me so well!

I want to cry. Why, as humans, must we think we are better than one another? Why did the Holocaust even have to happen? My heart positively aches for Ruth and for what she went through. It just bleeds for her. I had to set the book down after I finished it and hold back tears. Because I was at work and I probably shouldn’t cry at work.

So why the three stars, Lacy? Because the book wasn’t written well. As heart wrenching the topic is, I can’t ignore the technicalities of writing. It was written very choppily with a lot of repetition. Pieces of time would fly by with no descriptions and it would leave me really confused as to what date it was. There were a lot of side characters that had no introduction and they would leave just as quickly. I had a hard time keeping track of who was who. The conversation amongst the characters was just really off. Translation might have been why that was the case but I can’t be for certain. Some things just get lost in translation.

I did like this book for the aspect that it was from someone that lived in Poland during World War II. A lot of Holocaust books, the ones that I have read anyway, are based either in Germany or the UK. It was interesting to read about Poland and how the Jews there dealt with what was happening and I would like to find more of them.

But despite my critiques, this is another book that should be read and I will be reading more of her work, as she has a book about her journey in America. We must never forget the past so we aren’t doomed to repeat it. We can never let another event like the Holocaust happen again. These books are important and we must protect them to ensure future generations never forget.



  “…Remember: If hope is lost, all is lost.”

Destiny J Tamayo

I had to read it for the summer, it was really good. The story is really captivating. You really felt for the character, and i read it all in one sitting.