from abxc meetup; the author translated her mother's autograph book from 1938 Germany, before her Jewish family fled the country. Amazing that some photographs of the family survived the journey to America & are published also in this book. The author provided an Afterword on what happened to her mother's friends that had written in the book ( )

The Year of Goodbyes by Debbie Levy is an adaptation of her mother’s poesiealbum (poetry album) into a narrative poem, peppered with images and actual entries, and a WWII historical time line as well as a resource listing and a section catching up with Jutta Salzberg’s family and friends and their ultimate fates. This powerful hybrid poem/memoir not only examines the horrifying snowball effect of Nazi Germany’s laws against Jews, but also how Jewish children still found ways to maintain their childhood and enjoy the joyous moments they still had.

Salzberg lived in Hamburg, Germany, and was the daughter of a Polish born Jew who emigrated to Germany before the Nazi’s came to power, and the poetry album, much like American autograph books, begins in 1938, which became a pivotal year for Jutta. Her father was a successful, belt, suspender, etc. salesman, who is eventually dismissed from his job because he’s a Jew. As a young lady on the verge of womanhood, she is capable of not only enjoying gossip and games with classmates, but also understand the deep seriousness of the changes around her.

Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2013/07/the-year-of-goodbyes-by-debbie-levy.html ( )

Jutta Salzberg is a typical German teen who shares her thoughts and feelings with her friends in their special albums, called poesiealbums. Through real entries, drawings and personal messages, coupled with emotive verse, readers see the events of Hitler's reign and the impact it had on families and communities (Grades 4-7) ( )

A translation and editing of a memory book and diary kept by a young girl living in Hamburg as the Nazi's Nuremberg Laws took effect. ( )

This book tells the true story of what happened to a 12-year-old girl named Jutta (Debbie Levy’s mother) in 1938. Actual entries in a posiealbum (autograph book) serve as stepping stones in a crucial year in history before WWII. ( )