Title: Paper Hearts
Author: Meg Wiviott
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pub Date: September 6, 2016
Format: Paperback
Pages: 368
Source: Library
Genre(s): YA, Historical Fiction, Poetry
Rating: ★★★★★
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Synopsis from Goodreads:
An act of defiance. A statement of hope. A crime punishable by death.
Making a birthday card in Auschwitz was all of those things. But that is what Zlatka did, in 1944, for her best friend, Fania. She stole and bartered for paper and scissors, secretly creating an origami heart. Then she passed it to every girl at the work tables to sign with their hopes and wishes for happiness, for love, and most of all—for freedom.
Fania knew what that heart meant, for herself and all the other girls. And she kept it hidden, through the bitter days in the camp and through the death marches. She kept it always.
This novel is based on the true story of Fania and Zlatka, the story of the bond that helped them both to hope for the best in the face of the worst. Their heart is one of the few objects created in Auschwitz, and can be seen today in the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre.
My mini-review:
“How could a society produce such masters and such monsters?”
I have a really hard time reading anything about the Holocaust. My discomfort aside, this is exactly why everyone needs to read about it. This history, this tragedy, these monumental wrongdoings, should never be forgotten by the human race.
Meg Wiviott has weaved a beautiful narrative. Each person, each story, each stitch, is woven together into a heartbreaking and inspiring tale about a group of girls who protected their heart(s) when everything else was taken away.
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