Anya's Echoes

"Sometimes, even nothing is something...."

Lea is in middle school, and it doesn't seem fair that she has to share a room with her little sister when great-aunt Anya arrives for an extended visit. As if that wasn't enough, two of her friends are fighting, and it feels like things won't be the same again. When Lea discovers a cassette tape Anya has recorded, she learns of a time in history she can barely imagine. A survivor of the Holocaust, Anya becomes the one person Lea can confide in as, faced with bullying behavior unfolding in her friend group, Lea needs to choose between staying on the sidelines and finding the courage to do something about it.

Esty Schachter is a writer and clinical social worker. She is the author of Pickled Watermelon and Waiting for a Sign.