Page 17 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

and calm restored at last to the room, "why does he
bother with it? It's all in the past. There aren't any
concentration camps now. Why bring it up? It's em-
barrassing. I don't want any of my friends to meet him.
What if he shouts at them or does something else crazy?
Grandpa Dan doesn't shout at the TV or talk about the
war like that."
"Grandpa Dan wasn't in the camps, thank God. He
was born in America, just like you. That's because my
family came over to this country in the early 1900s,
second class. Not steerage." She got that faraway look
that signaled she was about to recite another part of
the family saga.
Hannah knew there was only one escape.
"I think I'll help Aunt Eva in the kitchen," she said
quickly, and ran from the room before her mother could
continue.

Although it was Grandma Belle's place to light the
candles in her pwn home, over the years it had become
a family tradition to let Aunt Eva do it, compensation
for her not having a house or family of her own. Aunt
Eva could have been married, not once but three dif-
ferent times even though, as Hannah's mother had
pointed out, she was no great beauty. But Aunt Eva
had preferred living with her brother, Will, and his wife
and helping them raise Hannah's father when Belle was
away at work.
"Why did she do it?" Hannah had often asked.
"Because she wanted to" was the only answer her
father had ever given.

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