Emil Sher. Hana’s Suitcase: On Stage
Second Story Press  $18.95  ISBN 1-897187-05-X  171 pg.
Reviewed by Meghan, Age 14

MAIKO: One-and-a-half-million. That’s what you told us. One-and-a-half-              million children were killed.

Fumiko nods.

AKIRA: Was Hana the one?

FUMIKO: One what?

AKIRA: One child and half-a-million children. That’s what you said. One, and a half-million. Was Hana the One?

MAIKO: It’s not one child and a half-a-million children. It’s one million children, and then another half-a-million children.

AKIRA: Oh. (Pause) That means one-and-a-half-million suitcases.

FUMIKO: And we have one of them.

Hana’s Suitcase: Act One

Maiko and Akira are two Japanese children in modern day Japan. They are collecting items that belonged to children for an exhibit called ‘The Holocaust Seen through Children’s Eyes’: a sock, a shoe, a sweater and a suitcase. With the help of Fumiko Ishioka, coordinator of the Tokyo Holocaust Center, they set out on a journey to discover what happened to Hana Brady, the small girl who once owned the suitcase.

Retold creatively and tastefully, the story of Hana Brady, Waisenkind, Orphan; a Jewish girl living in World War Two. The play version of this touching story carries the same meaning and feelings that the story did. I only wish I could have gone to Toronto and seen the play, it would have been truly wonderful, and I’m sure that it was just as wonderful as the script.

I really like how they’ve re-released Hana’s Suitcase, with the story and script in one book. It’s really neat to be able to compare the story and the script, the similarities and the differences. I would recommend this special story for children, ages 11 and up. I think children younger might have trouble understanding.

I’d give Hana’s Suitcase: On Stage five stars out of five.

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