Masada: The Last Fortress

In the year 72 C.E., after a four-year war between Rome and Judea, only one fortress remains to be taken: Masada, high above the Dead Sea in what is now Israel. Two years later, the commander of the famous Roman Tenth Legion, Flavius Silva, marches toward Masada to capture or kill the 960 Jewish zealots who hold it. / In this eloquent and powerful novel, we meet 17-year-old Simon ben Eleazar, son of the Jewish leader of Masada. Apprenticed too Masada's only physician, Simon learns to help victims of the enemy's onslaught as he struggles with his love for Deborah, the intended of his best friend, and with the painful decision he must ultimately make.

Bulletin of the Center for The Children's Books

Readers get deeply involved in the paradoxical suspense of doomed characters who nourish their lives—including romance, marriage, friendship, and ambition—in the face of death. . . .History is sometimes simply sad, and Miklowitz has asserted that sadness without sensationalizing it or apologizing for it.

Gloria Miklowitz, a graduate of the University of Michigan, is the author of more than 60 fiction and nonfiction books for children and young adults. Her books have won national and international awards and deal with important issues such as nuclear war, racial injustice, steroid abuse, date violence and most recently militia involvement. Three of her novels were made into award-winning television specials, including one which won the Emmy for "Best Children's Special" in 1986 (The War Between the Classes). A frequent speaker at schools, Gloria has also taken part in conferences in the United States, South Africa and Sweden. Gloria currently lives in La Canada, California.