The Endless Steppe

The Endless Steppe

• Genre: Nonfiction; young adult memoir
• Originally Published: 1956
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 880L; grades 8-12
• Structure/Length: 22 chapters; approx. 256 pages; approx. 7 hours, 48 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: This memoir describes the experiences of the author from June 1941 to the end of WWII in Europe. When Esther Rudomin is 10 years old, Russian soldiers arrest her and her family in Vilna, Poland, and transport them in cattle cars to a remote village in Siberia. Esther and her family are accused of being enemies of the state. For five years, Esther and her family struggle to survive in the terrible conditions of exile.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Wartime violence; the Holocaust; antisemitism

Esther Rudomin Hautzig, Author

• Bio: 1930-2009; born in Vilna, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania); exiled with her family when Soviet soldiers took charge of eastern Poland at the beginning of WWII; returned to Poland after the war; traveled to New York on a student visa in 1947; married Austrian-born American Walter Hautzig in 1950; took a secretarial job in publishing in 1951; publicity assistant for the Children's Book Council; director of children's lit promotion for the Thomas Y. Crowell Company; wrote children's and young adult works, several including nonfiction on home economics topics
• Other Works: Let's Cook Without Cooking (1955); Let's Make Presents: 100 Gifts for Less Than $1.00 (1962); At Home: A Visit in Four Languages (1968); Life With Working Parents: Practical Hints for Everyday Situations (1976); A Gift for Mama (1981); Remember Who You Are: Stories About Being Jewish (1990)
• Awards: Horn Book Award Honor Book (1968); ALA Notable Children's Books (1968); New York Times Outstanding Children's Books (1968); Jane Addams Award (1969); National Book Award for Children's Literature (1969); Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (Nominee; 1971)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Human Connection Across Class and Racial Barriers
• The Human Need for Belonging
• Adaptability and Resistance to Change

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Examine the treatment of Jewish people during WWII through the lenses of themes related to Human Connection Across Class and Racial Barriers and Adaptability and Resistance to Change.
• Analyze the text for elements related to the theme of The Human Need for Belonging.
• Identify how character traits can influence how individuals react and respond to drastic change.