Hello readers. I hope everyone has had a great holiday season. I have been busy with parties and family, but now I am ready to get back to business.
   My first book review of the year is on Ronit Lowenstein-Malz's novel Escape in Time, translated from Hebrew into English, and illustrated by Laurie McGraw. Set to publish April 2015, this young adult novel is based on real life events surrounding a Jewish-Hungarian family and their struggles during World War II.
   This wonderful narrative revolves around two main characters, Miri and Nessya. Nessya is a young Jewish girl living in modern day Tel Aviv with an understanding of the Holocaust, but no real connection to it. Miri is her grandmother who lived through the events of World War II as a young girl herself, but has kept this from Nessya. The story unfolds in a vivid and memorable way as Miri's recollections of the war and its horrors are brought to life.
   Although marketed to young adults, I believe it would be well suited to all ages as young as 12 and up. Young readers today will have no trouble understanding the events and details of Jewish-Hungarian life as Miri explains them to Nessya. Unlike many Holocaust novels, this one gives just enough detail to show what it was like to live through a war without becoming too morbidly gory and giving nightmares making it better suited as a first introduction to the events for young readers. It also shows the fighting spirit of Miri's family and what can be accomplished even in the darkest of times.
   Historical fiction such as this enriches our understanding of the past and helps to give clarity to the future. Encouraging younger generations to better understanding the past is how we can try to ensure that such events to not happen again.