Odette's Secrets

by Maryann Macdonald

  I wrote and rewrote Odette’s story many times before I was satisfied with it. At first I attempted to write it as a straight biography. This version seemed too dry. Then, with Daniel’s permission, I tried writing it in first person, in free verse, imagining insofar as I was able the childhood voice of Odette, the poet-to-be. I imagined details such as the name Odette’s beloved doll might have had, and the actual words that might have made up conversations to which Odette and her mother had alluded in their writings. Now the book became a work of fiction rather than nonfiction, but I hoped this might make it more accessible to today’s children. When I was finally satisfied with my manuscript, I gave it to my agent, Steven Chudney, whose own father had been hidden on a Christian farm in Poland during World War II. He found just the right editor for Odette’s Secrets—Melanie Cecka, whose sensitive suggestions helped shape the book still further.

  Odette Meyers’s life, like that of her fellow writer Anne Frank, was threatened with extinction. But unlike Anne, she went on to live and thrive. She moved with her parents to California after the war, graduated from college, married the poet Bert Meyers, and raised two children, Daniel and Anat. She taught French literature and made many devoted friends. And she always made it a point to share the story of her childhood in schools, churches, and temples; in her autobiography; and in her contribution to the award-winning 1984 film The Courage to Care. My hope is that today’s children, including her grandson Sacha, will come to know her life and times, her spirit and determination to survive, through this book.

  Acknowledgments

  My greatest debt of gratitude in writing this book is to Daniel Meyers, Odette’s son. From the start, he welcomed me into his home and was always generous with his time and help. Without his cooperation and assistance, I would have been unable to write Odette’s Secrets.

  I am also especially grateful to my husband, George Macdonald. His support and enthusiasm for my work is unfailing.

  Steven Chudney, my agent, has been my steadfast ally in seeing Odette’s Secrets on its road to publication. Melanie Cecka gave the manuscript the benefit of her thoughtful, sensitive, and intelligent editing. Brett Wright’s courtesy and diplomacy made it easy to accept his astute suggestions. These two editors made me happy my book had found a home at Bloomsbury. Last but not least, my friends and fellow writers, including Louise Borden, Trish Marx, Paula Panich, and Richard Peck, read the manuscript at different stages along the way and offered much encouragement.

  Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

  Copyright © 2013 by Maryann Macdonald

  All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  First published in the United States of America in February 2013

  by Bloomsbury Children’s books

  www.bloomsbury.com

  For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to

  Permissions, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Macdonald, Maryann.

  Odette’s secrets / by Maryann Macdonald. — 1st U.S. ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: When Odette’s father becomes a Nazi prisoner of war and the Paris police

  begin arresting Jews, her mother sends Odette to hide in the Catholic French countryside

  where she must keep many secrets to survive.

  ISBN 978-1-59990-750-5 (hardcover)

  1. Meyers, Odette—Childhood and youth—Juvenile fiction. [1. Meyers, Odette—Childhood and

  youth—Fiction. 2. Jews—France—Fiction. 3. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Fiction.

  4. World War, 1939–1945—France—Fiction. 5. Identity—Fiction.

  6. France—History—German occupation, 1940–1945—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.M1486Ode 2013 [Fic]—dc23 2012015549

  eISBN 978-1-59990-925-7