I've never (? at least not often) read a young-YA Holocaust novel that takes place *in* the camps. It's easier to tell a story of hope and resilience when your character escapes. This book walks that line perfectly, I think -- a Holocaust story should feel tragic and exhausting, and a YA novel should have a touch of hopeful ending. I read this book to consider assigning it as a book club choice for our 8th grade ELA Holocaust unit. It's short, brisk, emotionally resonant, and the overall story isn't complicated. We ended up deciding against assigning it, unfortunately, because it requires far too much background knowledge about Judaism -- that could work in a whole-class novel, maybe, but even if we provided a glossary all the Hebrew and Yiddish and cultural knowledge would bog down many independent readers.

Written in verse, "Paper Hearts" is based on true events and tells the story of Zlatka and Fania, two young women who lost everything but found each other in Auschwitz. Their courage, compassion, resilience and determination to survive can only be admired. While heartbreaking and inspirational, the sparseness of the words made "Paper Hearts" very accessible as well as emotional, and perfectly represented the bleakness of Auschwitz. A great read.