Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine, reviewed by Sonakshi Gupta

Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine

Reviewed by
Name: Sonakshi Gupta (12 years)
School: Fr. Agnel School, Gautam Nagar, New Delhi

Hana’s Suitcase is the true non – fiction account of Hana and her suitcase. This story begins at Tokyo Holocaust Center. Fumiko Ishioka, director of this centre wants to educate some youths about the horrors of the Holocaust. She wanted to teach students with realities of war, hence tried to obtain some left-outs of war victims and was finally able to obtain a child’s suitcase that came from Auschwitz. The top of the suitcase is painted with the name of Hana Brady, her date of birth – May 16, 1931 and the word Wasienkind. Fumiko and her students were desperate to find the details of Hana.

It was not easy task but Fumiko travelled to Germany and was able to have some clues about Hana’s town, Nove Mesto in Czechoslovakia. She also found Hana’s name in the list of people at the Theresienstadt Ghetto. She also discovered Hana’s brother name George Brady in that list. Then she tried and find out George in Canada. When George got a letter stating that his sister’s suitcase is on display, he was surprised and wished to share the story with them.

George told that Hana loved to draw, ski and wanted to be a teacher. He also gave some photos of Hana and her family members to Fumiko. George told the past story of Hana. With Fumiko’s search for Hana in the present, it is proved that Hana died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz.

This is the real story of a girl who was swallowed up in the evils of the Holocaust.

This story pertains to the past when Nazis were against the Jews. By reading such books one can have bad feelings about the Nazis. This can create communalism among various castes and religions.

Ultimately this book is worth reading to know about the cruelty of Nazis.

This book is filled with the story of determination, sadness and happiness, and loss and success. The two stories of Hana and Fumiko are balanced so nicely that it becomes a single story with no time gaps. It is an interesting story not just a page turning story.

Main characters:
Hana Brady
George Brady
Fumiko Ishioka

My favourite character is Fumiko because without her efforts and tremendous determination this story wouldn’t have come up.

Conclusion: Peace and love should be spread around the world.