What Rosa Brought

Nazi forces have marched into Vienna, and for Jews like young Rosa and her family, life is filled with danger and deprivation. Her parents’ grocery store closes, her father turns to making trunks to support the family, and escape seems impossible. “America doesn’t want to let us in,” explains Rosa’s beloved grandmother; “they’re afraid we’ll be lazy or make their country worse.” When Dad helps a rabbi transport a Torah by building a trunk with a secret compartment, and the family receives their longed-for visas to America, the event feels like a miracle: “We helped the Torah escape.... Now God is helping us.” But Grandma must stay behind when the Nazis restrict how many family members can leave. Rosa, who has been pondering what each person would bring with them to a new home, is distraught, until Grandma helps her realize the most important thing she can take to America: her grandmother’s love, something that she carries “in her heart throughout her life.” Sager Weinstein (Lyric Mckerrigan, Secret Librarian) bases the story on family experiences, per a concluding author’s note that reminds readers that every person saved from catastrophe also saves future generations. Characters are portrayed with pale skin. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Jennifer Rofé, Andrea Brown Literary. (Nov.)