One Day

Starred review from December 6, 2024

Gr 3-6-Inspired by a writing prompt for the 2022 commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day, this book tells the story of a father and son who survived the Holocaust. Hungarian Jews hiding in Paris, the two were arrested and sent to a Nazi concentration camp. In an attempt to escape, they began digging an underground passage to freedom. However, before it was complete, they were caught and placed on a train to Auschwitz. As the train slowed in a tunnel, 19 prisoners, including the father and son, pulled the bars from a window and escaped. While the survivors' harrowing account ends with hope, the book does not shy away from the atrocities of WWII. The cruelty and horrors of the Nazis are briefly addressed, as are the numbers of those who were killed on that final train ride. Illustrations evoke the style of Quentin Blake, but without the whimsy; instead, they employ somber colors to reflect the sadness and destruction of the story. The writing is concise yet powerfully descriptive, and the repeated refrain of "one day" emphasizes life's unpredictability and the need for resilience. VERDICT A moving story appropriate for a younger audience. This is an essential purchase.-Katherine Rao

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2025
Grades 4-6 The title of this haunting picture book echoes the theme of the 2022 Holocaust Memorial Day observance. This true account documents what happened one day to Hungarian Jews Eug�ne Handschuh and his father, Oscar, in Paris in 1942, when they were taken into custody because they were resistance fighters. First-person, simple sentences describe how they were betrayed, interrogated, beaten, shipped off to a hard-labor camp, and then loaded onto a transport train for an unknown destination, "Pitchipo�," that no one ever came back from. Eug�ne and his father managed to get through these plights, one day at a time. A daring escape led to the pair being separated; courageous acts of kindness brought them together again. Specific details evoke chilling realities, such as exact dates, the names of fellow prisoners, the French citizens who provided help, and the number of their transport train: Convoy 62. The somber ink, charcoal, and pencil illustrations aptly reinforce this testimony from a survivor who resolved to keep living, even if just for one day.

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