Kanada

Kanada. The name meant untold riches and promise to Jutka, a young Hungarian girl who was captivated by stories of a vast, majestic country where people were able to breathe free of hatred and prejudice. Freedom was in short supply, but hatred was everywhere in Hungary as hundreds of thousands of Jews were deported to concentration camps during the last year of WWII. Jutka, her friends, and her family are sent to Auschwitz.

In that hellish place, there was another Kanada. It was the ironic name given to the storehouse at Auschwitz where the possessions — clothing and jewelry — stripped from the victims were deposited, and where Jutka was put to work.

The war may have ended, but it did not end the suffering of many of the inmates of concentration camps. Many had no homes to go to, and if they did, they were not welcome. Hundreds went back to Poland and were murdered. Famished, diseased, and homeless, they lived in the hopelessness of camps, wondering if they could ever find a home in the world. Some went to Israel, but for Jutka there was only one dream left her — the dream of a country full of hope, where she would no longer have to live in fear.

Eva Wiseman’s powerful novel describes the war and its long, difficult aftermath with compassion and tenderness.

Children's Literature

Jutka, a Jewish Hungarian teenager, understands hatred and fear. Growing up during WWII, she is shunned by her community. She is forced to leave school, leave her home, and eventually she is sent to Auschwitz. Upon arrival, she is immediately separated from her family, and she clings to her friends. The days are brutal and she loses and gains people along the way. Her only piece of hope is in her dream of Canada, were her father's distant cousin lives, perhaps if she survives she can go there. When freedom actually comes, she faces a difficult decision. Should she follow her dreams to go to Canada or to Israel with her friends? Written with dates as chapter headings, known history can easily be associated with the book. The writing is friendly enough and introduces a new generation to the history of struggle, loss, and survival of the holocaust. Young adults of both genders can fret and cheer for Jutka throughout the novel.

Born in Hungary, Eva Wiseman came to Canada with her family when she was a girl. She began writing at a young age and showed an early passion for journalism. Her first young adult novel, A Place Not Home, was a finalist for numerous literary awards across North America. Her second novel, My Canary Yellow Star, was also shortlisted for several awards and won the McNally Robinson Books for Young People Award. Her third novel, No One Must Know, was equally critically acclaimed. Eva Wiseman is the mother of two children. She lives in Winnipeg with her husband.