Prisoner B-3087

by Gratz, Alan; Gruener, Ruth; Gruener, Jack

• ISBN13: 9780545459013
• ISBN10: 054545901X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2013-03-01
• Publisher: Scholastic Press

Summary

A gripping novel based on the astonishing true story of a boy who survived ten concentration camps. Based on the true story by Ruth and Jack Gruener. 10 concentration camps. 10 different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly. It's something no one could imagine surviving. But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face. As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken over. Everything he has, and everyone he loves, have been snatched brutally from him. And then Yanek himself is taken prisoner - his arm tattooed with the words PRISONER B-3087. He is forced from one nightmarish concentration camp to another, as World War II rages all around him. He encounters evil he could have never imagined, but also sees surprising glimpses of hope amid the horror. He just barely escapes death, only to confront it again seconds later. Can Yanek make it through the terror without losing his hope, his will - and, most of all, his sense of who he really is inside?

Author Biography

Alan Gratz is the author of a number of books, including SAMURAI SHORTSTOP, which was named one of the ALA's 2007 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults, and THE BROOKLYN NINE, which was among Booklist's Top Ten Sports Books and Top Ten Historical Books for Youth in 2010. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Alan is now a full-time writer living in western North Carolina with his wife and daughter. Look for him online at www.alangratz.com. Ruth Gruener was born Aurelia Gamser in 1930s Poland. Ruth and her parents survived the Holocaust by hiding in the homes of gentile families. After World War II was over, Ruth and her family moved to the United States, where Ruth tried to start an ordinary teenage life in Brooklyn. Ruth is married to Jack Gruener, another Holocaust survivor, and they have two children and four grandchildren. Ruth and Jack live in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, and Ruth works as a docent at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in downtown Manhattan. She and Jack travel all over the country to speak to schools about their experiences in the Holocaust

Table of Contents

From Prisoner B-3087

I looked out through the cracks of the crawlspace

Goeth was coming closer, all shining black leather boots and crisp black uniform

One of his dogs lifted its ears and looked right at me

I pulled back away from the wall

"We're trapped

We have to get out of here." I was almost choking onmy own fear

"And go where?" Thomas hissed

"If we leave, they'll find us in the barrack!"

"I don't care

We can't be caught here."

I pushed my way up and out of the crawlspace

I gasped, filling my lungs

But if I didn't really want to die, I had to move quickly

My heart was thumping, but it made me feel alive, and feeling alive made me want to stay alive

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

From Prisoner B-3087:

I looked out through the cracks of the crawlspace. Goeth was coming closer, all shining black leather boots and crisp black uniform. One of his dogs lifted its ears and looked right at me.

I pulled back away from the wall. "We're trapped. We have to get out of here." I was almost choking onmy own fear.

"And go where?" Thomas hissed. "If we leave, they'll find us in the barrack!"

"I don't care. We can't be caught here."

I pushed my way up and out of the crawlspace. I gasped, filling my lungs. But if I didn't really want to die, I had to move quickly. My heart was thumping, but it made me feel alive, and feeling alive made me want to stay alive.