The story of the Reesers, a Jewish family who emigrated to Canada from Czechoslovakia on the eve of WWII. They fled the Nazis and left behind four valuable oil paintings. It would take years for Mari Reeser, and then her son Karl, to retrieve them.

 

Kathy Kacer est une auteure primée qui a écrit de nombreux livres sur l'holocauste pour les jeunes lecteurs, dont The Magician of Auschwitz, L'histoire d'Edith, Le journal de Sara et Les espions de la nuit. Elle s'estime honorée de contribuer à faire connaître l'histoire familiale de Jenny Kay Dupuis. Kathy vit avec sa famille à Toronto.

 

Kathy Kacer has won many awards for her writing, including the American Jewish Library Association Award. In 1999, she wrote the first book in Second Story's Holocaust Remembrance Series, The Secret of Gabi's Dresser. Since then, she's penned four other books in the series. Kacer now writes about the Holocaust for young readers and travels the country speaking about it. Kacer lives in Toronto, Ontario, with her family.

Kathy Kacer's profile page

I was really impressed with Marie Reiser and all that she managed almost by sheer force of will. An inspiring story.

One Librarian’s Book Reviews Blog

I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was well-told and documents a different aspect of World War II - stolen art.

Reading to Know book blog

By examining the relationships between the members of the Reeser family, the often tenuous relationship between the Reesers and the family who hid the paintings during and after the war, and the relationships between the Reesers and those who aided in their escape from Czechoslovakia and in their endeavors to reclaim their property, Kacer grapples with the complexities of two generations’ attempts to come to terms with the past.

Holocaust Studies

Kathy already has a well deserved reputation as an award-winning writer of Holocaust-themed books for 9 to 14 year-olds. This is her first book for adults, and I hope it will not be her last. She so clearly understands the need to preserve stories such as this so that future generations will never forget what these people and so many others had to endure.

London Jewish Community News

In Restitution, author Kathy Kacer tells this true story of a family's quest in compelling detail, the story fleshed out with the Reeser family's pictures and documents.

ShalomLife.com

[Kacer's] approach exemplifies the demands of historical writing, as well as the ability to educate while offering a thoughtful and suspenseful narrative.

Canadian Literature

Rich in historical and cultural detail, this arresting story is a triumph of hope over despair, tenacity over evil.

The Canadian Jewish News

Kathy Kacer mixes memoir and fiction to tell the story of one Jewish family’s determination to survive the Holocaust...a riveting saga...a stunning achievement for children's author Kathy Kacer...Kacer skillfully pushes boundaries to provide a hybrid offering, hovering between memoir and fiction, heavily laced with meticulously researched historical data while unfolding a spectacularly gut-wrenching detective yarn, replete with inspiring characters.

The Globe and Mail