My Real Name Is Hanna Lib/E
Inspired by real Holocaust events, this poignant debut novel is a powerful coming-of-age story that will resonate with fans of The Book Thief and Between Shades of Gray.
Hanna Slivka is on the cusp of fourteen when Hitler's army crosses the border into Soviet-occupied Ukraine. Soon, the Gestapo closes in, determined to make the shtetele she lives in free of Jews. Until the German occupation, Hanna spent her time exploring Kwasova with her younger siblings, admiring the drawings of the handsome Leon Stadnick, and helping her neighbor dye decorative pysanky eggs. But now she, Leon, and their families are forced to flee and hide in the forest outside their shtetele-and then in the dark caves beneath the rolling meadows, rumored to harbor evil spirits.
Underground, they battle sickness and starvation, while the hunt continues above. When Hanna's father disappears, suddenly it's up to Hanna to find him-and to find a way to keep the rest of her family, and friends, alive.
Sparse, resonant, and lyrical, weaving in tales of Jewish and Ukrainian folklore, My Real Name Is Hanna celebrates the sustaining bonds of family, the beauty of a helping hand, and the tenacity of the human spirit.
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Tara Lynn Masih is author of the critically acclaimed short-story collection Where the Dog Star Never Glows and founding series editor of The Best Small Fictions. She is a National Jewish Book Awards finalist and received a Florida Book Award and a Julia Ward Howe Award for My Real Name Is Hanna, her debut novel.
Suzanne Toren, award-winning narrator, has over thirty years of experience in narration. She was named a "Golden Voice" by AudioFile magazine in 2019. She has won the American Foundation for the Blind's Scourby Award for Narrator of the Year, AudioFile magazine named her the 2009 Best Voice in Nonfiction & Culture, and she is the recipient of multiple Earphones Awards. She performs on and off Broadway and in regional theaters and has appeared on Law & Order and in various soap operas.
Masih is to be commended for shining light on a little-known piece of Ukrainian history and for portraying a Jewish family determined to survive the Second World War.
-- "Tilar J. Mazzeo, New York Times bestselling author"Well written and highly recommended.
-- "Jewish Book Council"Poetic and vivid. To strong effect, the loveliness of Hanna's thoughts counters the ever-present dangers of what she faces.
-- "Foreword Reviews"It is refreshing to find an original voice that delivers such a harrowing, yet inspiring message for young readers. Hanna's veracity and indelible spirit honor the subject and the people exhibited by the author in this highly readable, affecting novel.
-- "Historical Novels Review"Masih maintains a perfect balance of pacing and tension, and in Hanna creates a strong and inspiring young female protagonist...This book offers seeds of compassion to young and experienced readers alike.
-- "Small Press Book Review"This debut historical novel is a brilliantly rendered memorial to survivors of the Holocaust...The story of the human spirit is richly embedded in the lives of a family trying desperately to not just stay alive but to stay together and to retain their faith. Verdict: A strong choice for young adult shelves.
-- "School Library Journal"A carefully researched, often moving narrative of one family's struggle and survival.
-- "Kirkus Reviews"A stirring story of survival, resilience, and love. Masih breathes life into the smallest of details, and gives us a powerful look into a world not often explored.
-- "Crystal Chan, author of All That I Can Fix"Tara Masih's lovely, lyrical My Real Name is Hanna made me feel like I was reading a part of my parents' story that I'd neglected to write. Filled with breathtaking you-are-there historical detail, filigreed with touches of Jewish and Ukrainian folklore, Masih's tale of a young Jewish girl hiding out in the caves and forests of the Ukraine is a worthy addition to the canon of Holocaust literature for young readers. As fine, delicate, and artful as a painted pysanka egg.
-- "Helen Maryles Shankman, author of They Were Like Family to Me"From the very first lines, this is a beautiful, compelling story. I was moved again and again by Hanna's courage. It takes a strong imagination and a great heart to bring to life a Jewish family's struggle to survive in such a dark time as World War II. In bringing light to the caves of memory, Tara Masih gives us the redeeming power of storytelling in this extraordinary story.
-- "Bobbie Ann Mason, author of The Girl in the Blue Beret"A gripping story of courage and endurance in the face of Nazi terror. Tara Masih draws her readers into the lives of a Ukrainian Jewish family, into the persecution and unbelievable hardship suffered during the German occupation of their homeland. My Real Name is Hanna is a book that lives with you long after you have turned the final page.
-- "Diney Costelroe, author of The Girl with No Name"It's said the Holocaust defies imagination. Tara L. Masih defies that notion. My Real Name is Hanna is a powerful, revelatory leap of imagination, taking readers on a journey with fourteen-year-old Hanna from the slowly enveloping horror of the Holocaust, to the literal and spiritual depths of being buried alive, and finally a salvation of ineffable joy and sadness-emerging from a premature grave into sunlight like a defiant young phoenix. An unforgettable odyssey.
-- "Greg Dawson, author of Hiding in the Spotlight"
