Happy New Year!

Jewish Holocaust Survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan has spoken to thousands of students all around the world. You can tell by the adoring look on young Ava Goodson's face, Marion is touching lives. Ava, who is a young author for A BOOK by ME, heard Marion tell her incredible story of survival and met her afterward.

Many students from the Quad Cities area heard Marion speak in December. A group special to my heart are high school age international students from Indonesia, Mali, Tunisia, Egypt, Armenia, Ethiopia, Senegal and Ukraine.

After hearing her story, Fatima from Egypt said "I remember her message about people being kind to each other, and respecting each other for peace in the world. Also her "never give up" message. In all situations. she was courageous to survive this terrible period."

Never Lose Hope is the title of a book by Jon Mattern of Magnolia, Illinois. He wrote Marion's story for A BOOK by ME and it was one of the first stories to be published in 2011. It's available for purchase at a special price along with many other book titles in the series.