The Vanishing: A Holocaust Revenge Story

by David Michael Slater

Overview

For fans of Markus Zusak and Isabel Allende, this unforgettable novel weaves history, magical realism, and the fierce determination of an invisible girl on a daring journey through Nazi Germany to save her best friend in The Vanishing, now a major motion picture in development.

To save her best friend from the horrors of Nazi Germany, an invisible girl must embark on an utterly unforgettable journey of redemption and revenge. The Vanishing is fierce and loving, devastating and compelling, a breathtaking blend of history, fiction, and magical realism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798894410210
Publisher:	Library Tales Publishing
Publication date:	06/17/2025
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	191
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

David Michael Slater is an acclaimed author of nearly thirty works of fiction and non-fiction for children, teens, and adults, several of which are in development for TV and Film. David teaches in Reno, Nevada, where he lives with his wife and son. To learn more, visit www.davidmichaelslater.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2022-09-20
In this supernatural novel, a young Jewish girl becomes invisible in order to flee the Nazis.

As Slater’s story opens, the Siegel family has moved several times in Germany, first to Weiler in 1938, then to the smaller town of Gemeinde in 1939, and finally to minuscule Ortschaft in the summer of 1940. Ortschaft, a town of only 10,000 residents, still seems amicable enough to its 200 Jewish inhabitants. Young Sophie Siegel may be hopeful, but readers know what’s coming. The restrictions and brutality increase even in Ortschaft until the horrifying day when Sophie, hiding in a closet, watches through a crack as Nazis kill her parents. Then she makes a shocking discovery: When those same Nazis search her closet, they don’t see her. She has become invisible. She’s still stranded in Nazi Germany, but now she’s able to watch unimpeded—and to do her best to foment resistance (including the outlandish hope of creating a gigantic golem to defend the Jews). Using this subtle, startling blend of historical fiction and richly imagined fantasy, Slater manages to craft that rarest of things: a Holocaust novel that feels new. The author has a keen eye for the small, true details of everyday life. The creeping, incremental degradations of Nazi Germany are portrayed with a dramatic immediacy often missing from history books. Slater is also very skilled at creating tense moments arising from Sophie’s invisibility. At one point, she’s standing in the middle of a room that’s being vigorously searched by Nazi soldiers: “For a long and terrifying few seconds, the redhead stood directly in front of Sophie, who was too cold and too scared to do anything but shake. If he had taken just one more step, he would have kicked her.”

A tense and spellbindingly gripping fantasy meditation on the horrors of the Holocaust.

Kirkus Reviews