Mapping the Bones

by Jane Yolen

From the best-selling and award-winning author of The Devil's Arithmetic, Jane Yolen, comes her first Holocaust novel in nearly thirty years. Influenced by Dr. Mengele's sadistic experimentations, this story follows twins as they travel from the Lodz ghetto, to the partisans in the forest, to a horrific concentration camp where they lose everything but each other.

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.

Praise for Mapping the Bones:

"Jane Yolen's Mapping the Bones is a swift and deadly drama with overtones of dark fable we all wish we could forget. But this book, a shining star held in a trembling palm, requires us to remember." --Gregory Maguire, internationally bestselling author of Wicked

"Mapping the Bones is spare and beautiful and haunting. Jane Yolen has created a masterpiece." --Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, New York Times bestselling author of The War That Saved My Life

"Master storyteller Jane Yolen has outdone herself. This is a compelling, important, necessary, and timely book that deserves the widest audience possible." --Lesléa Newman, award-winning author of Still Life with Buddy

"In the hands of the superb Jane Yolen, folklore and fact connect in a harrowing testimony to horror and to love. Brutal, relentless, prophetic, and full of truth." --Elizabeth Wein, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Verity

"A compassionate, unflinching, unforgettable Nazi labor camp Hansel & Gretel tale woven by America's finest spinner of Holocaust stories for young readers." --Julie Berry, author of the Printz Honor Book The Passion of Dolssa

"[An] expansive, eloquent novel." --Publishers Weekly

"Yolen does a superb job of dramatizing the horrors of WWII and the Holocaust, bringing vivid fear and suspense to her captivating story. It makes for altogether memorable and essential reading." --Booklist

"[A] breath-taking and heartbreaking look at the horrors of war and the lengths people go to overcome." --Voice of Youth Advocates

"Fans of Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic will be engrossed in this story until the last page." --School Library Journal

"[A] well-rounded story of a very difficult time that shows the resiliency of these young people." --School Library Connection

• ISBN10: 0399257780
• ISBN13: 9780399257780
• Publish Date: 6 March 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Random House USA Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 432
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780399257780

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.