The Choice
“The book is well written for young readers … heartbreaking but full of hope and tolerance.
Among shortlisted titles for Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award, 2016
Among longlisted titles for Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award, 2017
Winner of Canadian Children’s Book Centre's "Best Books for Kids and Teens", 2015
Jakob and his family hide their Jewish identity in Nazi-occupied Hungary. Discovered, he is sent as a prisoner to Auschwitz where he keeps himself alive out of a desire for revenge on the friend he believes turned on him, only to discover when he is free that things are not as he thought.
Thirteen-year-old Jakob’s family has hidden their true identity as Jews and are living as Catholics in Budapest during WWII. One day, in a burst of loyalty, Jakob decides to reveal that he is Jewish, a choice that puts his whole family in danger. Jakob hopes his best friend Ivan, a Christian whose father is a high-ranking military official, will help his family, but he comes to believe that Ivan has abandoned them. Sent as a prisoner to Auschwitz, Jakob is kept alive by his passion for revenge against Ivan. When Jakob is finally freed, he discovers that Ivan too made a choice that day, a choice that changes everything Jakob thought was true.
Praise