Rachel Abramson, a sixteen-year-old Jewish girl, lives in Nazi-occupied Denmark and has the ability to erase memories. She must decide whether to use her gift to ease her friends' pain, or to preserve the testimony of what they have been through.
Courage, resistance, and the cost of remembrance collide in Laura Hatosy’s debut—a story for readers who crave history woven with speculative twists.
What readers are saying
Laura was born in NJ, which means she has to fight her genetic predisposition for big hair and pork roll.
After attending Rutgers University, she moved to Massachusetts with her high school sweetheart. They've been married since 1997. Awwww. Old people are so cute.
She got her Masters degree at Harvard University and taught high school history for several years. It was while teaching the Holocaust curriculum, Facing History and Ourselves, that she learned about the story of Terezin, the camp on which Drawn from Memory is based.
She left the workforce to care and advocate for her two children, Bella and Jake—no Twilight relation—both of whom are on the autism spectrum.
She lives in Massachusetts and is currently eating a pork roll sandwich.
Laura engages people to think and learn. Her teaching experience spans decades and settings, from museums and libraries to classrooms. She can present any programs below or combine your favorite elements for your own customized experience!
This program covers my writing process for Drawn from Memory, covering the conception of the idea, the research resources required, how much to outline, the pitfalls of drafting, and the types of editing needed to have a polished finished product. Students learning to write essays/papers, to do extensive research, and to read books critically will get a lot out of this program.
Ninety-Nine percent of Danish Jews survived the Holocaust despite Nazi occupation. Other nations lost 50-80% of their Jewish populations. What was the historical context in Denmark? What can we learn from those Danes today about how to protect people in our community?
This program uses the historical story of the Danish rescue of the Jews (as featured in the novel Drawn from Memory) as a jumping off point to discuss combating bullying in school. Concepts like the empathy gap, the diffusion of responsiblity, and the Milgram experiments are used to explain why Denmark rescued 99% of their Jewish population while other countries murdered millions. These ideas are applied to the culture of schools to better understand why bullying happens and what we all can do to stop it.
All one-hour programs are free with a 20-book order ($14 each). Otherwise $150/hr. Email for availability
Reading Drawn from Memory for your book club?
Here are some questions to get the conversation started!
Here are some tips for the host on food, decorations, music and more!
Click here to view the FREE teacher guide including games, activities, and writing assignments.
Want Laura to drop in via Zoom? Email the date to see if it works!
Whenever I read a novel "based on real events," I'm curious which are the real ones and which aren't. Here's a few details about that. Learn more about Denmark and Terezin and their role in Holocaust history here.
Spoiler alert
If you haven't read Drawn from Memory yet, read no further!
This page gives away key events of the book.
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