The Length of a String
Imani knows exactly what she wants as her big bat mitzvah gift: to find her birth parents. She loves her family and her Jewish community in Baltimore, but she has always wondered where she came from, especially since she’s black and almost everyone she knows is white. Then her mom’s grandmother–Imani’s great-grandma Anna–passes away, and Imani discovers an old journal among her books. It’s Anna’s diary from 1941, the year she was twelve and fled Nazi-occupied Luxembourg alone, sent by her parents to seek refuge in Brooklyn, New York. Anna’s diary records her journey to America and her new life with an adoptive family of her own. And as Imani reads the diary, she begins to see her family, and her place in it, in a whole new way.
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“Told in two voices which Weissman weaves together like a double helix, this is a story of family ties, some of which are broken by war, some broken by choice, some broken by unanswered questions. But by the end, readers will see that love and faith–from strangers, from friends, and from long-gone ancestors–have the power to knit us together with strings that are so much stronger than genetics. I love this sweet refuge of a book.”
– Kathi Appelt
Newbery Honor-winning author of The Underneath
“You’ll yearn with this wonderful heroine as she searches for long-ago Anna and her own hidden past. The characters are unforgettable, and the ending is entirely satisfying. A book readers will love; I know I did.”
– Patricia Reilly Giff
Newbery Honor-winning author of Lily’s Crossing
“The Length of a String is a resounding continuum of connection and search for self. As universal as it is personal. A must read.”
– Rita Williams-Garcia
Newbery Honor-winning author of One Crazy Summer
“Pair this with Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars for Jewish historical fiction with heart. An excellent addition with strong curricular ties.”
– School Library Journal
“Both Anna and Imani are richly drawn characters, complex and sympathetic. . . . [a] moving, deftly plotted story.”
– Publishers Weekly
“The reader watches as [Imani] deepens her understanding of who she is and of the world around her—page by page, emotion by emotion…resulting in a textured experience for the reader. Highly recommended for ages 10 to 14.”
– Jewish Book Council
“A lovely story of families of all kinds, of questions of racial and religious identity, of belonging and connection, of love between mothers and daughters.”
– The Buffalo News
“A story within a story . . . about family, friendship, coming of age, and the consequences of the Holocaust…The ending has a surprise twist which makes the story all the better.”
– School Library Connection *starred review*