The Night of the Burning

Devorah's Story

Linda Press Wulf

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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Devorah’s world is shattered by the tragedies of post–Great War Europe: gas poisoning, famine, typhoid, and influenza. Then comes the Night of the Burning, when Cossacks provoke Christian Poles to attack their Jewish neighbors. In 1920, eleven-year-old Devorah and her little sister, Nechama, are the sole survivors of their community. Salvation arrives in the form of a South African philanthropist named Isaac Ochberg, who invites Devorah and Nechama to join his group of two hundred orphans in their journey to safety in South Africa. Although reluctant to leave her homeland, and afraid to forget her family, Devorah follows her sister, who is determined to go to the new country. There Devorah is dealt the greatest blow – Nechama is adopted and taken away from her. In the end, though, Devorah realizes that she is not solely responsible for keeping the past alive, and that she will not betray her beloved parents when she is adopted herself – and finds happiness again.
 
This gripping first novel, inspired by and based closely on the childhood of the author’s mother-in-law, was recipient of the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award.
 
The Night of the Burning is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

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Reviews

Praise for The Night of the Burning

"An insightful exploration of the effects of traumatic experiences . . . Masterful."  --School Library Journal
 
"Heartbreaking and poignant with a touching, positive conclusion."  --Kirkus Reviews
 
"Gripping."  --Booklist
 
"Touching."  --The Horn Book
 
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About the Author

Linda Press Wulf

LINDA PRESS WULF lives in Berkeley, California.

Linda Press Wulf

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The Night of the Burning
Devorah's Story
Linda Press Wulf
Award

Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, Book Sense Children's Pick, CCBC Choice (Univ. of WI), Children's Books: 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, New York Public Library, Sydney Taylor Honor Book

Hardcover

Hardcover
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
September 2006
Hardcover
ISBN: 9780374364199
ISBN10: 0374364192
Middle-Grade Fiction
5 1/2 X x 8 1/4 inches, 224 pages, Includes an author's note, an afterword, a historical note, and a glossary
Age Range: 10 to 14
Grade Range: 5 to 9
$16.00
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Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

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