Daniel's Story by Carol Matas

This novel offers students a fictional, first-person account of the Holocaust. It spans the Jewish journey from ghettos to concentration camps to extermination camps. Its historical accuracy compounded with the main character Daniel’s personal experiences and growth makes for an informative and interesting read. Some of Daniel’s changes, emotions, and relationships are ones that middle school students can relate to. It is important for students to learn the history of the Holocaust but this book allows for them to relate to it on a personal level.

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Daniel's Story is the tale of the horrific odyssey of a Jewish family, an odyssey which begins in Frankfurt, Germany in 1933 and concludes in Lodz, Poland in 1945. The narrator, Daniel, both a German and a Jew, is but six years of age when his family's story begins, and he is a very weary eighteen when it concludes. Through Daniel's eyes, readers experience the rising anti-semitism in Germany, a growing hatred which culminates in the Nazis' establishment and gruesome use of the death camps.

Matas, Carol. (1993). Daniel’s Story. New York: Scholastic Paperbacks. 144 pp. ISBN: 0-59-0465885.