Community Read: When the World Was Ours Family Book Discussion

Join us for the Community Read as we discuss the award-winning book When the World Was Ours by Liz Kessler. When the World Was Ours tells the story of three young friends whose fates are intertwined during the devastation of the Holocaust. Three young friends—Leo, Elsa, and Max—spend a perfect day together, unaware that around them Europe is descending into a growing darkness and that they will soon be cruelly ripped apart from one another. With their lives taking them across Europe—to Germany, England, Prague, and Poland—will they ever find their way back to one another? Will they want to? Inspired by a true story, When the World Was Ours is an extraordinary novel that is as powerful as it is heartbreaking and that shows how the bonds of love, family, and friendship allow glimmers of hope to flourish, even in the most hopeless of times.

This book club is in conjunction with the Americans and the Holocaust traveling exhibit that will be on display at the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library (300 Park Ave) from January 5-February 12. The traveling exhibit is presented by The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) and the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office and examines the motives, pressures and fears that shaped Americans’ responses to Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s.

This book discussion is encouraged for children in grades 4+ and their caregivers to read and discuss together, but all ages are welcome. Read the book together before the book discussion on January 28.