Review by Booklist Review
The title of this haunting picture book echoes the theme of the 2022 Holocaust Memorial Day observance. This true account documents what happened one day to Hungarian Jews Eugène Handschuh and his father, Oscar, in Paris in 1942, when they were taken into custody because they were resistance fighters. First-person, simple sentences describe how they were betrayed, interrogated, beaten, shipped off to a hard-labor camp, and then loaded onto a transport train for an unknown destination, "Pitchipoï," that no one ever came back from. Eugène and his father managed to get through these plights, one day at a time. A daring escape led to the pair being separated; courageous acts of kindness brought them together again. Specific details evoke chilling realities, such as exact dates, the names of fellow prisoners, the French citizens who provided help, and the number of their transport train: Convoy 62. The somber ink, charcoal, and pencil illustrations aptly reinforce this testimony from a survivor who resolved to keep living, even if just for one day.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
After two Hungarian Jewish resistance fighters are arrested in 1942 Nazi-occupied Paris, they survive with a singular focus: "Get through one day and then on to the next. One day at a time. One day after another." This refrain sustains the young man and his father through interrogation, then internment at both the Compiègne camp and the Drancy transport camp. At Drancy, they learn of deportations to "Pitchipoi," an unknown place of no return. Vowing "We're not going to Pitchipoi," they join others digging an escape tunnel. When it's discovered, they are deported along with 1,200 other Jews in a train made up of cattle trucks bound for Auschwitz, but pry open a window and escape. In this direct, unadorned telling from Rosen (Bear's Big Dreaming) and Phillips (Alte Zachen/Old Things), emotionally spare text respects readers' ability to bear witness, while ink, charcoal, and pencil drawings convey both immediacy and enormity, plunging readers into a world where nothing is assured. An author's note concludes. Ages 7--10. (Jan.)
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