内容简介
"BythetimeWWIIendedinEurope,theBlumenthalfamily--Marion,herbrotherAlbert,andtheirparents--hadlivedinasuccessionofrefugee,transit,andprisoncampsformorethansixyears,notonlysurvivingbutstayingtogether....Thisgrippingmemoiriswritteninspare,powerfulprosethatvividlydepictstheendlessdegradationandhumiliationsufferedbytheHolocaust'sinnocentvictims,aswellastheunendinghorroroflifeinthecamps.It'salsoanennoblingaccountofthetriumphofthehumanspirit,asseenthroughachild'seyes."--KirkusReviews.Bibliography.
作者简介
InHerOwnWords..."IwasborninBrooklyn,NewYork,andhadaveryordinaryanduneventful(asitseemedtome)childhood.Ireadvoraciously,butitneveroccurredtomethatIwouldonedaybecomeawriter.Foronething,Ihadnevermeta"real,liveauthor,"asyoungpeopledonowadaysintheirschoolsandlibraries.And,inanycase,mostofthewritersIreadinmygrowing-upyears,likeCharlesDickensandLouisaMayAlcott,weredead."Ididn'tbegintopublishjuvenilefictionandnonfictionuntilmyownchildrenwereinthefourthorfifthgradesatschool.IwasstimulatedbytheirexpandinginterestsandbytherealizationthatIhadagreatneedtoexplorethelongsilentworldofmyownchildhood."SoonIwaswritingcontemporarynovelsformiddle-graders,amongthemthe"FatGlenda"series.Ialsobecameintriguedwiththereachesandchallengesofnonfiction.IventuredintotheAmericanculinarypastwithtitleslikeSlumps,Grunts,andSnickerdoodles:WhatColonialAmericaAteandWhy(Clarion).AndItraveledtodistantEgypttodoon-siteresearchforMummies,Tombs,andTreasure(Clarion)."WhenImetMarionBlumenthalLazanandheardherspeakaboutherexperiencesasachildsurvivoroftheHolocaust,Iknewthatherewasastorythathadtobeputintobookform."AspartoftheBlumenthalfamily'ssix-and-a-halfyearsundertheNaziyoke,Marion,herparents,andherbrotherspentfourteenmonthsintheconcentrationcampofBergen-BelseninGermany.ThiswastheverycampinwhichAnneFrankhaddied...andatthesametimethatMarionandherfamilywerethere.AnneFrankleftusnowritingsofherlifeinthecamps.ButMarionwasabletoconveytousthedetailsofdailylife,andofdeath,inthatplaceofmostindescribablehorror."WhenMariontoldmeaboutthe"fourperfectpebbles"thatshesoughttogathereachdayonthebarrengroundsofthecamp,Ifeltthatthatwouldbetheperfecttitleforthebook.Forthelonelyandfrightenednine-year-old,thesetsofmatchingpebblesofferedsomekindofassurancethatMama,Papa,herbrother,Albert,andshewouldsurviveBergen-Belsen,ifnotthewar-longeffectsoftheHolocaustitself."It'sasourceofgreatpridetomethatFourPerfectPebbles:AHolocaustStory,whichagreedtoco-authoratgreatemotionalexpense,ismyfiftiethpublishedbook."
