Like Finding My Twin: How An Eighth-Grade Class Reunited Two Holocaust Refugees
by Fern Schumer ChapmanPublish: Jul 01, 2017Teen & Young Adult HistoryBook Overview
* Finalist, Society of Midland Authors 2015 Award (Children's Non-fiction)* Independent Publisher 2016 Bronze Medal Winner (Juvenile-Young Adult Non-fiction)
On the ship that brought her from Nazi Germany to America, young Edith Westerfeld met Gerda Katz. Both 12-year-old girls were traveling alone and immediately became best friends. Unfortunately, the two unaccompanied minors lost touch after their arrival in 1938. Decades later, after a northern Illinois middle-school class read Is It Night or Day?, a historical novel that captures the two girls friendship, the students were so moved by the story that they made it a class project to reunite the two women. Fulfilling a shared life-long dream, the two women, now in their 80s, finally saw each other again in Seattle, Washington, in 2011. Through historical documents, photographs, and storytelling, Like Finding My Twin captures the friendship of the two Holocaust refugees, the students' research, and the remarkable reunion 73 years after Gerda and Edith shared their immigration journey. Like Finding My Twin fulfills Common Core State Standard (CCSS) requirements for Holocaust, Diversity, Character Education, and Service Learning mandates, and it can be read with Is It Night or Day? as paired fiction/non-fiction texts. A Teacher's Guide is available.
