Remember Me
A Search for Refuge in Wartime Britain
- Publisher
- Tundra
- Initial publish date
- Sep 2000
- Category
- Holocaust, Military & Wars, Parents
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780887765193
- Publish Date
- Sep 2000
- List Price
- $10.99
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Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 10 to 18
- Grade: 5 to 12
Description
Young Marianne is one of the lucky ones. She has escaped on one of the first kindertransporte organized to take Jewish children out of Germany to safety in Britain.
At first Marianne is desperate. She does not speak English, she is not welcome in her sponsors’ home, and, most of all, she misses her mother terribly. As the months pass, she realizes that she cannot control the circumstances around her. She must rely on herself if she is to survive.
In this exciting companion to Good-bye Marianne, Irene N. Watts has created a memorable character, and a story that is ultimately about hope, not war. Based on true events, this fictional account of hatred and racism speaks volumes about history and human nature.
About the author
In 1968 Irene N. Watts came to Canada from Britain, where she had arrived thirty years earlier from Germany, via Kindertransport. She is a writer/playwright, theatre director, and educator. Her plays for young audiences have been widely produced. Awards include a Vancouver Theatre Alliance Jessie Richardson for Goodbye Marianne (Scirocco Drama and Anchorage Press, U.S.); the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People; the Isaac Frischwasser Memorial Award (Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Awards, 1999 and 2001); the Government of Alberta Achievement Award for Outstanding Service to Drama. Irene is a Lifetime Member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. Recent publications include Tapestry of Hope: Holocaust Writing for Young People, compiled with Lillian Boraks-Nemetz (Tundra Books).
Awards
- Nominated, Silver Birch Award for Fiction
Excerpt: Remember Me: A Search for Refuge in Wartime Britain (by (author) Irene N. Watts)
Marianne asked her, “How did you manage to come over?”
Unconsciously, Miriam replied in her native tongue, “I met Mrs. Smedley in Berlin in 1936. She was on holiday with her husband, for the Olympic Games. I was eighteen. She asked me for directions to her hotel. I walked with her, then she invited me in. I explained it was not allowed because I was Jewish. She took my arm and said, ‘I am an English tourist; no one will stop me.’ So brave! We had coffee in her suite. She told me if I ever wanted to go to England, if things got worse, to write to her. When my father’s business was taken away, and I lost my job as his bookkeeper, my mother told me I should write to Mrs. Smedley. It was an opportunity. I did, and she sponsored me. She is very kind. I make mistakes, but she makes allowances for me. My friend Hannah lives in London too, but she lives in one little room. When she wants a bath, she must pay sixpence for the hot water.” Miriam poured more coffee. “She works in a household where they are mean to her. I think she is often hungry.”
“Why don't the Jews in England do more to help” Marianne burst out in German. “Sorry, Bridget, just this one question.”
Miriam said, “They help all they can, but there are so many of us trying to get out of Europe. Mrs. Smedley says in England less than one percent of the population is Jewish. A few are rich, but most are like us – poor, or immigrants, trying to bring their relatives to England. I’ll keep this paper, Marianne. I might hear of a place for your mother.”
Other titles by
Seeking Refuge
Dear Canada: Hoping for Home
Stories of Arrival
Escape from Berlin
Touched by Fire
Cher Journal : Terre d'accueil, terre d'espoir
Onze récits
No Pets Allowed
Munsch at Play Act 2
Eight More Stage Adaptations
No Moon
Munsch at Play
Eight Stage Adaptations for Young Performers
Good-bye Marianne
A Story of Growing Up in Nazi Germany
