Greenhorn

Olswanger’s sensitive story, based on real-life events, brings home the atrocities of Nazi-Germany as seen through the eyes of young religious Jews living in America during WWII. This short picture book offers a message of survival, renewal, and hope.

-- Anna Levine * author of Freefall (a Sydney Taylor Honor Award winner) and Jodie’s Hanukkah Dig (a Sidney Taylor Notable Award winner) *

In Greenhorn, Anna Olswanger not only captures the voices of the young yeshiva students living in Brooklyn in 1946 but also reveals what is in their hearts. In a few spare words, she tenderly develops the relationship between Aaron, a student who is teased because of his stuttering, and Daniel, a Holocaust survivor who desperately clings to a tin box carrying a precious secret. Never didactic, the story conveys a message about the healing power of friendship. Miriam Nerlove’s illustrations gently evoke the time and place.

-- Ellen Schwartz * author of Stealing Home, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book *

Greenhorn goes straight to your heart. Another poignant treasure from children's book author, Anna Olswanger, which clearly deserves to be another award-winner.

-- Bracha Goetz * author of Let Your Fingers Do the Mitzvohs *

Anna Olswanger takes a daring approach introducing young readers to the horrors of the Holocaust. The telling illustrations ease the painful subject.

-- Amalia Hoffman * author of Purim Goodies and The Klezmer Bunch *

Greenhorn by Anna Olswanger is a powerful book. I think children will be very interested in the story, and it is a good way to open up a discussion with 9- to 12-year-olds about the Holocaust and even racism today.

-- Margo Dill * Margo Dill's Read These Books and Use Them! *

How can such a slight book, a mere 48 pages, including the full-page illustrations and an afterword, convey such pathos, history, and emotion, while also providing an entrée into the study of the Holocaust and the meaning of Hillel’s dictum: “Do Unto Others . . .” but it does.

* Jewish Book World *

Olswanger’s tale evinces a fine ear for the rough-and-tumble speech of city kids and an eye for detail.

* Publishers Weekly *

Anna Olswanger, author of the award-winning Shlemiel Crooks, handles the material deftly, allowing the loyal friendship of the two boys to set a redemptive tone, while Miriam Nerlove’s delicate watercolor illustrations evoke the vulnerability and sweetness of childhood, even as the text exposes the cruelty of which human beings are capable. Profoundly moving and filled with accurate historical detail, Greenhorn is an extraordinary book.

-- Rebecca Migdal * Bank Street Books *

Quiet and deeply moving.

-- Yael Levy * The Times of Israel *

A tiny novel with an enormous heart, Anna Olswanger’s Greenhorn poignantly illustrates the old adage that good and powerful things often come in the smallest packages.

-- Susannah Felts * Chapter