Escape In Time By Ronit Lowenstein-Malz is the story of the Eneman family whose sheer determination, along with plenty of luck, allowed them to survive the Holocaust. What makes this a heartrending story is the fact that it is based on an actual family that lived through this horrible time in history. An emotionally charged story that is often suspenseful, but also provides small bits of humor, makes for a story with real life characters that aren't easy to forget once you finish the final page.

Nessya finds it almost impossible to believe that her grandma Miri is a survivor of the Holocaust, but her best friend Rachel is certain that she is because she overheard a conversation where it was suggested that Miri be invited to speak at the Holocaust Remembrance Day program. Nessi wants to ask her mom because surely she knows the truth, but Rachel reminds her that many families don't like to talk about it. Instead she convinces Nessi that they need to investigate and solve the mystery on their own. When that plan fails, they ask Nessi's mother anyway and she suggests that they talk to Grandma Miri. What will Nessi learn when she talks to her grandmother?

Ronit Lowenstein-Malz's characters literally jump from the pages of Escape In Time. She not only captures the fear and uncertainty that they felt, but also the hope and love that knits this family together. I found myself mesmerized by the telling of this story, so rich in detail that I honestly felt I was witnessing history take place. While we feel the emotions of the characters that survived the ordeal of the Holocaust, we are also allowed to see how the information impacts Nessya as she reads her grandmother's story. Reading the "diary letters" added a unique element to the telling of the tale by providing snippets of the family's daily struggles, showing how fate intervened on more than one occasion to keep them safe. Ms. Malz does a wonderful job of balancing detail and age-appropriate information together to make for an easy to understand, yet informative story that will appeal to young and old alike.

Escape in Time by Ronit Lowenstein-Malz is a historical novel based on actual events that happened to a Jewish family in the small country town of Munkacs, Czechoslovakia (later Hungary), and in the capital city of Budapest, Hungary, during World War II and the Holocaust. Unimaginable and horrifying events for the Eneman family began in earnest in the spring of 1944 in Munkacs, which up until that time was relatively untouched by the atrocities of the war being raged elsewhere in Europe. Very quickly the realities of Hitler’s Nazi regime began infiltrating the town, upending the world of its Jewish inhabitants. Forced to consider the options and likely outcomes, patriarch father Naftuli made dangerous, but thankfully, life-saving decisions. The youngest family member, daughter Miri, lived through the terrifying ordeal and later became grandmother Miri to 12-year-old Nessya. Escape in Time is told through the eyes of Naftuli’s great-granddaughter Nessya, and through the letters and memories of which grandmother Miri became steward, and preserved for her family’s descendants.

Escape in Time is a beautifully and intriguingly written re-telling of an awful period of time from a Hungarian Jewish family’s life that few of us can even begin to comprehend some 70 years later. Books like this that recount a time in human history so exceedingly reprehensible are important contributions to future generations to help ensure history does not repeat itself. I’m not sure we could ever hear enough stories about the Holocaust to truly imagine what life was like then. Escape in Time comes from an interesting vantage point, that of Hungarian Jews who managed to escape and hide, which I’ve never heard about before, thus making it a compelling read. Originally written in Hebrew for an Israeli audience, it has been translated into English very appropriately for a North American audience.

The illustrations by Laurie McGaw are breathtaking. Although I can’t claim to have read hundreds of young adult books, these are some of the most beautiful, captivating human depictions I’ve ever seen in any book. The medium chosen for the portraits is at once historical yet contemporary, a feat which cannot be easy to accomplish. The details the artist chose to include in each illustration are the perfect accompaniments to the major plot points. Each face depicted draws the reader in for contemplation. I found myself hanging back from moving on with the reading to ponder each and every illustration and all its finer points. This is rare for me and a real testament to the artist’s skill and absolute contribution to Escape in Time.

Escape in Time is categorized in the young adult genre, but I would suggest it is entirely appropriate and accessible for children as young as grades four to six. In the past six months I have read to my 11- and 13-year-old both The Diary of Anne Frank and The Hiding Place, and both children were able to understand and appreciate these books of greater length and more graphic details. Escape in Time is shorter than these two books, as well as devoid of grisly particulars of the Holocaust, and I believe it provides an important and gripping introduction to some of the realities of the Holocaust for younger children.