Hana's Suitcase
By: Karen Levine
Published by Second Story Press, 2002
Nonfiction, Historical Fiction
The Tokyo Holocaust Center received a mysterious suitcase to put on display in 2000. This true story follows the investigation of Fumiko Ishioka into the life of Hanna Brady, the owner of the suitcase. As the reader follows Fumiko's investigation, we also follow the life of Hanna Brady and her family, Jews in the Holocaust. The story allows the reader to get a first hand account of what the Holocaust was like. With alternating chapters of Fumiko's point of view and then Hanna's it is easy to feel like you're truly there.
Reading Level:
Grade Level Equivalent: 5.2
Lexile Level: 730L
Suggested Delivery:
Small Group Read
Electronic Resources:
This resource is the Brady Family website. The site offers a plethora of information about Hana Brady's life and family. With links to a family tree, a timeline of her life and memories of her life, students have the opportunity to learn more about the main character of the story. For teaching purposes, students could use this resource before reading to learn some history of Hana Brady or during reading to expand upon what they read.
This is an interactive website for students to learn more about Hana and Fumiko's stories. The website is not only based off of the book, but a documentary made in 2011 called Inside Hana's Suitcase. The site could be used by students to build on their reading as a during reading activity. The site allows students to navigate through their environment and click on glittering images to hear a story with pictures.
Key Vocabulary:
ghetto, Holocaust, refugee, Zyklon B, Theresienstadt, Terezin
Comprehension Strategies
Before Reading:
The different places in the story can be very confusing to sort out in the reader's head. Have students find on a map where Tokyo, Japan, Nove Mesto, Czechoslovakia, Terezin, Prague and Toronto, Canada are. Print pictures of what these places looked like during the time period of the story and attach them to the map as well. Have this map displayed in the classroom throughout the reading of the story so students can refer back to where these places were.
During Reading:
As students read the story, have them plot the important events on a timeline. In order to help students understand the two timelines in the story (Fumiko's in 2000 and Hana's in the 1930's and 40's) students will have two seperate timelines of events. At the end of each chapter, students will decide which events are most important and plot these on the appropriate timelines.
After Reading:
Students could work together to think of questions to ask Fumiko and her students at the Tokyo Holocaust Center. The students could write a letter to the center and send it to Japan for more information about Hana Brady and the story.
Writing Activity:
Students can pretend to be Hana Brady and write a journal entry as if they were her. The portion of the story told about Hana is not told from her point of view, giving students the opportunity to spin the story this way. Have students include historic details from the story. By having them write what they think Hana may have been feeling, they will show their true understanding of the story.
Levine, Karen. Hana's suitcase: a true story. Morton Grove, Ill.: Albert Whitman, 2003. Print.
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