Mapping the Bones

by Jane Yolen

Jane Yolen, the bestselling and award-winning author of The Devil's Arithmetic, returns to World War II and the Holocaust with this timely and necessary novel.

It's 1942 in Poland, and the world is coming to pieces. At least that's how it seems to Chaim and Gittel, twins whose lives feel like a fairy tale torn apart, with evil witches, forbidden forests, and dangerous ovens looming on the horizon. But in all darkness there is light, and the twins find it through Chaim's poetry and the love they have for each other. Like the bright flame of a Yahrzeit candle, his words become a beacon of memory so that the children and grandchildren of survivors will never forget the atrocities that happened during the Holocaust.

Filled with brutality and despair, this is also a story of poetry and strength, in which a brother and sister lose everything but each other. Nearly thirty years after the publication of her award-winning and bestselling The Devil's Arithmetic and Briar Rose, Yolen once again returns to World War II and captivates her readers with the authenticity and power of her words.

Perfect for fans of Markus Zuzak's The Book Thief and Ruta Sepetys's Salt to the Sea.

• ISBN10: 0399546677
• ISBN13: 9780399546679
• Publish Date: 15 January 2019 (first published 6 March 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 432
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780399546679

Reviews

This book started out amazing. I was invested in the characters, the story, and the 'Gittel Remembers' chapters. However, at the end of this book, there were definitely some issues that did not feel right.
Let's talk about Bruno. He is a very outspoken, clear character and I did not mind him during the whole story. Even in the labor camp. However, I do not agree with the message that the author sends here (although I am sure that this was not her intention in any way). For me, it felt as if she wanted to show how Bruno would do everything to survive, but forgot that this could result in a messy situation. I believe that a lot of people could read this and think that there were actually a lot of people in concentration camps that had this opportunity to 'sweet talk' the guards to make sure they survived. Yet they did not have this opportunity. These people did not even have the chance to do something like this, most of them probably would have died trying to warm up towards the guards. I am sure Jane Yolen never meant for it to be unrespectful towards all the people that died while trying to fight for their lives, and I get that it is fiction. It just made this book from a 5 star a three-star book.
Even if I had not taken this Bruno situation in the wrong way, the ending would have ruined it. I don't mind them surviving, even though they probably would not in real life. I get it. But what was that ending? It felt rushed, I had to read it multiple times to make sure to read it properly. Did a little underfed and weak girl really push an adult man and he died? The characters that were connected to his death were too coincidentally there, and I get the Hansel und Gretel reference, but... no it was not for me.

Despite that, it was an interesting book. Even though I would not recommend it, I would also not encourage anyone not to read it.