The Blood Years

paperback Synopsis Michael L. Printz honoree and National Book Award finalist Elana K. Arnold returns with the harrowing story of a young woman's coming-of-age during the Holocaust in Romania—a tale based on the author's grandmother's true experiences. Frederieke Teitler and her sister, Astra, live in a house, in a city, in a world divided. Their father ran out on them when Rieke was only six, leaving their mother a wreck and their grandfather as their only stable family. He’s done his best to provide for them and shield them from antisemitism, but now, seven years later, being a Jew has become increasingly dangerous, even in their beloved home of Czernowitz, long considered a safe haven for Jewish people. And when Astra falls in love and starts pulling away from Rieke, Rieke wonders if there’s anything in her life she can count on—and, if so, if she has the power to hold on to it. Then—war breaks out in Europe. First the Russians, then the Germans, invade Czernowitz. Almost overnight,