Winner of the 2008 National Jewish Book Award for Children’s and YA Literature and the 2009 Canadian Jewish Book Award for Children’s Literature!

A mysterious diary links modern-day Laura to Sara, a young Jewish girl fighting to stay alive during WWII

Laura has just three weeks to go before her Jewish “coming of age” ceremony, called a Bat Mitzvah, when she is assigned a special project. She is to read the diary of Sara Gittler, a young girl her own age who was imprisoned by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust. Sara never had the chance to celebrate her coming of age, so Laura is to learn about Sara’s life and then share her Bat Mitzvah with her “twin” by speaking of her at the ceremony.

Reluctant to undertake the project at first, Laura quickly becomes caught up by Sara’s struggle to survive. Sara’s diary unfolds with the details of her daily life in the Ghetto, a world full of fear, confusion, tragedy and above all, courage. From Sara’s brave story in the past, Laura learns how to find the courage to confront the possibility of a friend’s current involvement in the desecration of a Jewish cemetery.

Includes photographs, biographies of young heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and true accounts of “Twinning Ceremonies”.

To hear Just One More Book’s podcast about The Diary of Laura’s Twin go to www.justonemorebook.com

Kathy Kacer on writing the book: “I have struggled for years with how to make the Holocaust a meaningful event in history for young readers. Given the fact that it happened so many years ago, it is difficult for young people today to make sense of anyone from that time period. The Diary of Laura’s Twin allows readers to connect with a contemporary girl, and through her experience of finding and reading the diary of a girl in the Warsaw Ghetto, to then make the bridge to the events of the Holocaust. That is what is unique about this story. It is the co-existence of two important lives, one from today and one from the past who come together in the pages of this book.” – from Jewish Books for Children blog interview July 2009