Monday, September 30, 2024

WHAT'S THE BUZZ?: The Ballerina of Auschwitz (Young Adult Edition of The Choice) By Edith Eva Eger - REVIEW!




Today's WHAT'S THE BUZZ title comes to us via Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and features a Young Adult Nonfiction title that brings us the beauty and strength that can be found in even the darkest of times. Be prepared to step behind the eyes of today's author to a time and place we wish never happened for lessons that we should never forget. Ladies and gents, today's book of choice...


Young Adult Edition of The Choice
By
Edith Eva Eger
9781665952552
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Release Date: October 1st, 2024


About the book...
Edie is a talented dancer and a skilled gymnast with hopes of making the Olympic team. Between her rigorous training and her struggle to find her place in a family where she’s the daughter “with brains but no looks,” Edie’s too busy to dwell on the state of the world. But life in Hungary in 1943 is dangerous for a Jewish girl.

Just as Edie falls in love for the first time, Europe collapses into war, and Edie’s family is forced onto a train bound for the Auschwitz concentration camp. Even in those darkest of moments, Edie’s beloved, Eric, kindles hope. “I’ll never forget your eyes,” he tells her through the slats of the cattle car. Auschwitz is horrifying beyond belief, yet through starvation and unthinkable terrors, dreams of Eric sustain Edie. Against all odds, Edie and her sister Magda survive, thanks to their sisterhood and sheer grit.

Edie returns home filled with grief and guilt. Survival feels more like a burden than a gift—until Edie recognizes that she has a choice. She can’t change the past, but she can choose how to live and even to love again.




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As a reader that falls into Historical Fiction more often than not, taking in a nonfiction title from time to time would seem the natural progression. Some call to me, while others don't, but this was one I found myself reaching for. 

While an adult counterpart exists, this Young Adult version of her original memoir plays to the intended audience. That is to say while they both convey her story, this version focuses more so on her personal journey, her feelings before, during, and after the events that unfold, and how she was able to find the strength to pull through another day when everything was crumbling around her. It reminds us that there is beauty even in the darkest of times, light to be found in the pitch black of night, courage to be found in the seemingly frailest of minds, and love to be fought for when our hearts are the only thing still free. I think teen readers will find a kinship in her struggles, even if they aren't in the same circumstances, because despite the terror that surrounds, she was still growing up, and discovering her self, her place in the world, and the difference she could make. 

A beautifully shared story of a life lived through loss and triumph, Dr. Edith Eva Eger weaves a tale that you can't turn away from with lessons you won't want to forget. 



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About the author...

Picture credit: Jordan Engle

Edith Eger is an eminent psychologist and one of the few remaining Holocaust survivors old enough to remember life in the camps. A colleague of Viktor Frankl, Dr. Edith Eger has worked with veterans, military personnel, and victims of physical and mental trauma. She lives in La Jolla, California, and is the author of the bestselling and award-winning books The Choice and The Gift. Edie and her daughter, Marianne Engle—a renowned psychologist and food writer who helped develop the recipes in The Gift—encourage you to try the delicious dishes in the book and share your thoughts at LoveEdieandMarianne@Gmail.com.




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Special thanks to Lindsey at Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing for the chance to share this title with you and for the copy for review! (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title celebrates its BOOK BIRTHDAY tomorrow, October 1st, 2024, so mark your calendar or pre order your copy today!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!


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