Not Nothing

Gr 5 Up–A stunning intergenerational story featuring a unique pairing of characters: a young boy and a 107-year-old Holocaust survivor. Alex, 12, has had a rough life. His mother’s mental illness causes the two to move around a lot. When she is hospitalized, Alex bounces between foster homes and lands with his aunt and uncle who don’t really want him there. After a horrible fight in school, the boy is sentenced to summer community service at the Shady Glen nursing home. On his first day, Alex hates the place and argues with another young volunteer, Maya-Jane. But things slowly begin to change for the better. Alex meets Jozef (Josey) and for the first time in five years, the elderly man begins talking. He shares the story of his Jewish family’s life in Poland before World War II and his eventual escape from a concentration camp through a series of chapters that offset the main plot. In fact, the entire story is told in the voice of Josey, which can be confusing at first but makes for incredibly beautiful storytelling. Events from Josey’s and Alex’s pasts are gradually revealed as the two become friends, with each character emerging from a self-protective shell. The result is transformative. As the summer passes, Alex becomes an important part of the nursing home family, and even becomes friends with Maya-Jane and her two mothers. A supporting cast of characters, including other residents of Shady Glen, envelope the main characters (both figuratively and literally) in a touching story of hope and resilience.