15 journeys

the long version

A memoir recounting her experiences during World War II in Poland using her family's collection of letters. "These fifteen journeys -- fourteen of them within Poland -- take six years, 1940--1946. The distances vary. Sometimes they are minimal, as short as a two-stop bus ride in a city, or a twenty-minute walk, and sometimes they are longer -- much longer. The traveler is a young girl, who we meet at age seven. Along the way, she loses her home, her family, her name, her hair, and finally, her fear. Two things help her on her journeys during these difficult years: some lessons from her parents and a large share of luck, which never deserts her."