Page 20 - Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

DURING THE ENDLESS SEDER DINNER AND THE EVEN MORE
endless explanations from the Haggadah, Hannah fre-
quently glanced out the window. A full moon was
squeezed between two of the project's apartment build-
ings.
Her grandfather droned on and on about the plagues
and the exodus from Egypt. Maybe it was an interesting
story if someone else told it, Hannah thought, but
Grandpa Will had a voice that buzzed like the plague
of locusts, and he made sour lessons at every pause.
The Seder wasn't even in the right order, not like they
taught in Sunday school. When Hannah tried to protest,
she was shushed down by Uncle Sam.
"It's Will's way. Don't make trouble," he said.
Hannah stared at the moon. Tomorrow they'd be
going to Grandpa Dan's for the next Seder. At least
there would be three cousins her own age, all boys, but
that couldn't be helped. And they'd get to sit at the

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