Re: Target:"Devil's Arithmetic"

[Tamah Graber <tgraber@UMD5.UMD.EDU>]

I read the book two years ago and really liked it.  I would certainly not
call it science fiction.  There is no science and no fantasy - no
dragons, no sorcerers.  It certainly is historical fiction, because the
awful events described happened.  The fiction is a way to present those
facts in a good read.  I don't think HOW she got to Poland in 1942
matters - whether it was the wine or anything else.  What children will
get from reading the book is a sense of what was going on in Poland and
in many other places in Europe during those times.


         Tamah Graber
         Darnestown E.S.
         15030 Turkey Foot Road
         Gaithersburg, MD 20878

         tgraber@umd5.umd.edu


On Fri, 2 Feb 1996, Susan Fonseca-King wrote:

> I have an elementary teacher who is doing a study of the novel "Devil's
> Arithmetic".  We had a lively discussion today about the book.  Was it the
> glass of wine with dinner that brought about the leap into the past?  Is
> the heroine a reincarnation of the girl from the past?  Does the
> combination of the wine and the numbers on her Aunt's arm, recover hidden
> memories?  Is this book historical fiction or science fiction?