Eva Kor’s autobiographical story of her young life in Auschwitz as a Mengele twin is nothing short of amazing. There have been many stories told of the harrowing experiences of concentration camp survivors and whether you’ve read them all, or haven’t read any, you should read this one. I was literally—and I mean literally, as the words just jumped off the pages—engulfed in this book and read it from beginning to end as a bedtime story.

This would make a wonderful gift to the young adult/teen reader in your family and might even be an interesting read-aloud to your child as a bedtime story. While it describes some of the concentration camp scenes in detail, it isn't horrid beyond the nature of the material. While it describes some of the scenes in detail, it isn't horrid except for the nature of the material itself. It really tells a harrowing (heroine) story of a ten year old girl's fight to survive against murderous odds and her will to protect her twin sister, Miriam, after being taken from their parents during an unbeatable and undeniable time in our world's history.A daunting scene is Miriam standing on the platform at Auschwitz as she watches with her twin in awe and disbelief as her parents are stripped from her hold and sentenced to their deaths.

I recommend Surviving the Angel of Death to anyone who is curious about the events of the Holocaust and the Mengele Twin experiments that went on during that time. These children were subjected to injected diseases and torturous abuse and their heroic survivals are awe-inspiring for us as adults.

Eva Kor built a Holocaust museum and now lectures about her ordeal. This version of her original story is written for the young adult reader, but even as an adult I found it stimulating and was not distracted by the more simplified writing style. This book is another testimony to heroic deeds and the obstacles a historic people has had to overcome to survive, against all odds. Read it and weep!