ISBN: 978-0-7618-4562-1 and eISBN: 978-0-7618-4563-8
Hamilton Books
"Ross writes in a compelling narrative voice that conveys childlike innocence and honesty while unflinchingly describing acts of ineffable cruelty. Her style gives the story an immediacy that draws the reader into the world of the child who struggles to understand the events of her life. Running from Home speaks eloquently of the fragility of life while also celebrating the resiliency of the human spirit."—Patricia Sack, English department chairperson, MerionMercyAcademy
Running from Home, narrated in the voice of a child, tells of the perplexing events which lead her brother, her mother and herself to abandon their home in Vienna as Hitler’s armies march into Austria. They flee to Rita’s Jewish maternal grandparent’s estate in Wieliczka (near Krakow) just before the onset of the Nazi invasion of Poland. After the invasion, they abandon their family in Wieliczka, try to endure life in the Krakow ghetto, escaping and eventually being imprisoned by the Gestapo. Through a lucky series of events they finally become POWs in an American-British civilian internment camp which is protected by the Geneva Convention. Following their arrival in America the memoir continues by depicting the trials of adjusting to a new life as immigrants.
Running from Home details the confusion, immediacy, fear and sense of impending danger children experience when thrust into devastating situations, as well as the lasting effects of these traumas.
