Schools Increasingly Use "Motherland" to Teach Moral Choice

From middle schools through high schools and colleges, classrooms nationwide are adopting "Motherland: Beyond the Holocaust - a Daughter's Journey to Reclaim the Past," as students address difficult topics ranging from the aftermath of the Holocaust to bullying in America.

Teachers' awareness of the compelling memoir has been boosted by several honors, including author Fern Schumer Chapman being named Illinois Author of the Year 2004 by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English.

Schools successfully using "Motherland" include DePaul University, Chicago, Ill.; Cedar Grove High School in Cedar Grove, Wisc.; the Haverford School for Boys, Haverford, Penn.; Newark Junior High School, Newark, Calif.; Deerfield High School, Deerfield, Ill., and the Woodlands Academy, Lake Forest, Ill. The Georgia Department of Education has included the book on its recommended reading list.

"Motherland: Beyond the Holocaust -- A Daughter's Journey to Reclaim the Past" is a moving personal story that opens a window through which to view the legacy of war, genocide and reconciliation. Coming from a source not often heard in Holocaust literature -- that of the next generation - the memoir follows a young mother's pilgrimage with her own troubled mother to the tiny village where she barely escaped the Nazis; there they learn that no one truly escapes the shame, guilt and lingering scars of the war.

"It is rewarding to see that the book is used to clarify the moral dilemmas we all face in the study of history, in our everyday lives," says author Fern Schumer Chapman.

"Some students have pointed out that Nazism was a form of institutionalized bullying," she says "They ask themselves what they would have done if they had faced the choices of some of the people in the book. They ask themselves what they do when a classmate is bullied or victimized."

* One Book/One Community selection by "Racine Reads" and "Quad Cities Reads"
* Film rights optioned by Hallmark Entertainment
* Featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show
* National Jewish Book Award Finalist
* Book Sense 76 selection
* Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers choice
* 2004 Illinois Author of the Year

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