Impossible Escape: A True Story of Survival and Heroism in Nazi Europe

(Hardback)

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This is the true story of Rudolph (Rudi) Vrba. In 1944, he was just a teenager when he did the impossible and escaped Auschwitz, becoming one of the first survivors to share with the world what was actually going on in the Nazi concentration camps. But before he escaped, before he became one of the most famous whistleblowers in the world, he had to survive the concentration camp. This is also the story of Gerta Sidonov, his highschool friend who fled from Slovakia to Hungary with her family. There, she lived under assumed names and hid her Jewish identity. Every day, she risked being found out as Hungary began to cave under pressure from German Nazis. Rudi and Gerta's parallel storylines bring them together as the clock ticks down for Gerta and her family, and Rudi edges towards escape.

Reviews

"Passionate, absorbing, and, unfortunately, more than a little relevant to current events." --Kirkus, starred review

"[A]n important, highly readable addition to the library of Holocaust literature for young people." --Publisher's Weekly, starred review

"Sheinken has penned another must-read with this powerful and harrowing account." --School Library Journal, starred review

"National Book Award finalist, Newbery Honoree, and Sibert Medalist Sheinkin is a tried-and-true nonfiction expert whose books make big events, like WWII, accessible for younger readers. This latest, which draws on his own family history, is no exception." --Booklist, starred review

"In his latest masterful work of narrative nonfiction, Sheinkin's tale of suspense is tinged with the physical and psychological horror of the Holocaust." --Horn Book Magazine, starred review

"Sheinkin's meticulous research makes this a riveting account, balancing the larger events of the geopolitical shifts throughout the war with the specific brutality of the camps." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Impossibly riveting, impossibly heartbreaking, impossibly inspiring. Impossible Escape should be required reading for every human being." --Alan Gratz, New York Times-bestselling author of Allies

"This riveting account of individual survival amid politically motivated persecution works equally well as a thriller, as a history, and as a warning. Masterful." --Eliot Schrefer, New York Times-bestselling author of Endangered

Author Bio

Steve Sheinkin is an acclaimed author whose accolades include a Newbery Honor, three Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, a Sibert Medal and honor, and three National Book Award finalist honors. Sheinkin lives in Saratoga Springs, New York, with his wife and two children. stevesheinkin.com