Published by Ebury Publishing, Rider Genres: History, Holocaust, Nonfiction
“It’s the first time I see that we have a choice: to pay attention to what we’ve lost or to pay attention to what we still have.”
― Edith Eger, The Choice
Edie was a teenager who had hopes of being on the Hungarian Olympic gymnastics team. She took dance and gymnastic lessons and had fallen in love for the first time. She had dreams and aspirations for her life. Unfortunately, the world was not a safe place and she and her family were put on a train headed toward Auschwitz. The Ballerina of Auschwitz: Young Adult Edition of The Choice is Edie’s harrowing account of what transpired in her life leading up to Auschwitz, during her time in Auschwitz and being saved. I loved how Edie found the strength to go on, to live, to love, to find purpose and to tell her story. In under 200 pages, she tells her very personal story with grace, intellect, and courage.
What a thing to go through, what a thing to experience, what a thing to endure. This book had me thinking about Ma and her experiences in Auschwitz. To experience the unimaginable and find the strength to go on is a blessing. But many experienced survivors guilt. The pain of losing loved ones, the questioning why did I survive when they didn’t is a heavy, heavy, burden to bear. The fact that Edie went on to be a psychologist who helped others face trauma shows her strength, her desire to help others, her belief in hope and looking forward while remembering the past.
Inspiring, moving, and powerful.
*This is the YA version of the author’s book, The Choice: Embrace the Possible which details her experiences as Holocaust survivor and how she found strength in hope.
Thank you to Ebury Publishing, Penguin Random House | Rider and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
