Hana's Suitcase by Karen Levine

“With each loss of a friendship and each new restriction, Hana and George felt their world grow a little smaller. They were angry. They were sad. And they were frustrated.” - Hana's Suitcase

This is the real story of a little Jewish girl, Hannah Brady. When a Japanese women, Fumiko, decided to teach children about the holocaust she contacted many museums until one finally sent her some artefacts, this included Hana’s suitcase. Everyone who visited Fumiko’s museum was very interested in finding out more about Hana and make her really come to life. Fumiko was very determined to find out more and so she kept on contacting museums and people until she finally got hold of a survivor of the holocaust, George Brady – Hana’s brother.

I was very impressed by Fumiko’s determination and found her to be doing an exemplary job. I think this added to the hope mood of the story.

I also liked that Levine included copies of the real photos as this helped me connect more with the story and with Hana.

I found this book quite good for children 9-12. Some knowledge of the holocaust is needed, to understand who Hilter was and what happened during that time, however the book itself is very simple, short and has a very easy language. It is interesting to read about such a devastating time period from the eyes of innocent children, and to show that the Jewish were just like any other people who were discriminated against for no reason.