Always Remember Me: How One Family Survived World War II by Marisabina Russo is a lovely picture book that gently tells the stories of the author's family during the War. It begins:
Sunday is the most important day of the week in my family, the day we gather for dinner at my Oma's.
And so begins the story of a young girl, Rachel who visits with her grandmother and aunts each Sunday. One day Oma decides to show Rachel all of her family history - a history she has not shared before. It is the story of the Holocaust and how Oma and her three daughters survived to be reunited in the United States.
Russo provides the reader with a soft, gentle introduction to the horrors that were the Holocaust. As Rachel and Oma look at photo albums, the album ends as grandmother remembers the concentration camp and her eventual liberation. The story does not stop, but returns to the family after the war. Young Rachel will always remember.
On her website, the author shares that this book began with her painting small pictures from her grandmother's old photos. She realized that she wanted to write a book that went with the stories. The book contains images of both the original photos and the artist's renderings. There is also a brief historical note at the end of the book, as well as a small glossary
TITLE: Always Remember Me: How One Family Survived World War II
AUTHOR: Marisabina Russo
COPYRIGHT: 2005
PAGES: 48
TYPE: non-fiction, biography
