Reviews for Running from Home: A Memoir

"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, Merion Mercy Academy

"A deeply insightful memoir, skillfully written and, at times, painfully honest in depicting a child's terror created by anti-Semitism, the loss of loved ones and years of running away. Unlike other stories of survival, this account helps those of us, fortunate not to have lived during the Holocaust, to understand the horror, the fortitude, the courage required as well as the lasting impact of these events on the lives of those who lived through them."—Rabbi Neil S. Cooper,, Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El, Wynnewood, PA and honorary doctorate, Jewish Theological Seminary

"A most unusual and harrowing Holocaust tale. Because she suffered every inhumanity except a concentration camp, she spent a lifetime in denial, believing that hers was a 'happy childhood.' Rita's discovery of the truth and her eventual acceptance of reality is a story that will resonate with anyone who has ever survived any kind of adversity--and who among us hasn't?"—Melinda Blau, journalist and best-selling author: www.consequentialstrangers.com 

“Maybe we forgive, but we never forget   
Rita Ross has written an important and exceptional memoir that delves deep into her traumatic childhood to emerge as a more fully formed adult, and we the reader are all the better for it. A candid and heart-wrenching (at times funny, too) recollection of a childhood largely robbed by the Nazi's, yet courageously preserved both in body and spirit by a wily and desperate mother who's single-handed determination and a few strokes of luck manages to save her young children from a grievous demise. As the decades pass and the Nazi's horrors are left more to the movies, Ross's book is a simple, powerful and indispensable reminder of something that should never be forgotten and an inspirational tale of recovery and strength.” Adam D. Schell, Author of Tomato Rhapsody: www.tomatorhapsody.com