Their biggest challenge is surviving the many concentration camps they are sent to. Elli and her mother face many challenges throughout the book. In Auschwitz, Laura nearly starved herself so Elli wouldn’t go hungry. Her mother cares very much about Elli although she rarely shows it. In the concentration camps, Elli is the one that pushes her mother to keep on going even though she is scared herself. Elli is a persevering and persistent teenager. Elli and her mother are the most important characters in this book. Her family includes her brother, Bubi, her father, Markus, her mother, Laura, and her aunt, Serena. Elli’s family lives above The Friedmann General Store located in Somorja, Hungary. This book is about Elli Friedmann’s family and their life in Eastern Europe during Hitler’s invasion in 1943. I read I Have Lived a Thousand Years by Livia Bitton-Jackson for my nonfiction reading project.
