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| T4 a novel | 
 enlarge | List Price: $14.00 (€11.06)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 41 reviews)
Sales Rank: 403548
Category: Book
Author: Ann Clare Lezotte
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Studio: Houghton Mifflin
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
Label: Houghton Mifflin
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 112
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0547046847
EAN: 9780547046846
ASIN: 0547046847
Publication Date: September 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
It is 1939. Paula Becker, thirteen years old and deaf, lives with her family in a rural German town. As rumors swirl of disabled children quietly disappearing, a priest comes to her family's door with an offer to shield Paula from an uncertain fate. When the sanctuary he offers is fleeting, Paula needs to call upon all her strength to stay one step ahead of the Nazis.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...
 Courtesy of Teens Read Too December 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Everyone knows about the Holocaust, but not many people know much about Action T4.
T4 was a program Hitler used to sterilize and/or kill thousands of Jews with disabilities. People like Paula Becker, a deaf girl, were forced into hiding to save their lives. In her free verse poetry, Paula talks about hiding and running from Hitler and the T4 doctors.
This book was captivating. Before reading it I had never heard of Action T4. It was amazing to read a story through the eyes of a young girl as she is forced to leave her parents and go into hiding.
This was a short, easy read that anyone would appreciate.
Reviewed by: Emily Ann
 Just an Address December 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Born partially deaf, Paula Becker has a high fever at sixteen months that leaves her totally deaf. Despite her handicap, Paula has a loving family. The German community in which she lives also accepts her and understands her hand signs, but in Nazi Germany, any handicapped person is in grave danger. There existed a headquarters in Berlin at
Tiergartenstrasse (the T4 of the title) where handicapped children and adults were collected and put to death. Warned by the Catholic priest, Paula is sent into hiding.Through the kindness of others, Paula survives the war and ultimately marries another refugee known at her shelter as "Poor Kurt." As a member of another despised group, he was also in danger of death, because it was ultimately revealed that he was Romania, a gypsy.
The author, who is completely deaf, understands her heroine. In free verse, she brings a deaf young girl to poignant life at a frightening time. A slim, small book, this story grips the reader and doesn't let go until the relief of survival.
Great teaching tool for diversity October 23, 2008
The title of this novel in verse (T4) comes from the Nazi's Action T4 Euthanasia Program that was named after the address of its headquarters in Berlin: Tiergartenstrasse 4. The T4 program instructed the doctors in Hitler's regime to kill any people who were disabled or mentally ill, no matter of their age.
We follow the story of one family's effort to save their daughter from the T4 program. Along the way our main character meets up with Walther, who is also escaping the Nazi regime, and the reader discovers it is due to his background as a Romani.
In the Nazi actions of ethnic cleansing, there was no room for diversity and LeZotte's book brings to light that no one who was different was spared.
This book is a great teaching tool for diversity inside the classroom and at home.
A fresh take on a horrific event October 7, 2008
Written in free verse, T4 tells the story of Paula Becker, a thirteen year old German girl who is deaf and a target of the Nazis who were ordered to kill disabled people under Action T4. With the assistance of the family's priest, Father Josef, young Paula goes into hiding until she can safely return to her family.
This is a fast-paced and touching read that brings attention to a story that many may not have heard much about. But what makes this book special is LeZotte's sparse free verse that not only tells Paula's story but also effectively conveys the voice and fears of a thirteen-year-old girl. The beginning of the book focuses on Paula's childhood before Action T4 and both her and her family's struggle to cope with her disability.
This passage was especially expressive:
"What I Saw
My visual
Sense
Was so
Strong.
If
A breeze
Shook
The leaves
On
A tree
I
Would
Shriek
With
Delight.
If
People
Ran fast
Past me
It looked
Like
A tidal
Wave.
Even
The motion
Of
A hand
Waving
Goodbye
Startled
Me. " (pp. 8-9)
Here's part of her description of Poor Kurt, a kind man she meets in the shelter where she's hiding:
"Poor Kurt
Wrapped his dreams
Around him
Like a patchwork quilt.
He slept
Almost every night
At the shelter.
He slept all day too.
His bushy beard
Appeared to be gray,
But he never washed,
So I couldn't tell...." (p. 52)
LeZotte makes the story and characters come alive in a book that literally took me 20 minutes to read. Through Paula, she is able to tell the horrific story of Action T4 and the Holocaust without going into graphic details. Because the book is short and written in free verse, there are not many details, so be prepared to answer many questions after children finish reading the book.
Not only will this make a great addition to a home or school library, but it would also make a great supplementary resource in history and language arts classes.
 Eye Opening October 6, 2008
Vivid descriptions combined with the images of poetry blend to produce a haunting picture of Nazi Germany. A young deaf girl grows into a woman while living in hiding for her life.
It is easy to visualize the scenes described in the book. The fact that the author herself is deaf helps us to understand how much more a deaf person sees than those of us who can see AND hear.
LeZotte gently but plainly brings many terrible things about the Nazi regime into her story. She brings many historical facts - such as the way the doctors worked to eliminated the handicapped and the death camps where they were killed - so the reader is educated while empathizing with this young girl.
I had been familiar with much of Nazi Germany, and I remember hearing that Hitler wanted to remove the "imperfect" from society, but I didn't realize that the Nazis were actually rounding up other people than Jews and other ethnic groups. This book was definitely an eye opener. How could this have happened in a "civilized" "educated" country, and only sixty years ago?
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