"Readers of historical novels centered on World War II events will find How to Hunt a Bear a fine saga. It follows a Jewish family from 1939, as Nazis enter their village, and is revealed from three perspectives. Eighty-seven-year-old Itzhak, a nursing home resident in Jerusalem, seeks to document his family story; young Itzhak (Ichu) is seven years old at the beginning of the war; and Maya, a family history genealogist, finds that her research into the Hauzer family legacy changes her life...As the story moves from 1939 Poland and first-person experiences and Jewish culture there to a grueling Russian winter in 1942, then to modern-day (2019) Holland, readers will find all the characters provide thought-provoking experiences...Modern characters attempt to understand their place in the family history based on the newly emergent knowledge about the past, lending How to Hunt a Bear an excellent sense of interconnected heritages and Jewish cultural experiences." —Midwest Book Review

How to Hunt a Bear" did what the best of history books can do and opened a new part of history to me... True stories will always be more powerful, by virtue of their truth. I would say that stories like this, which shed light on parts of history few people are aware of, are the most precious relics. It's one of the most important I've come across this year." —Manhattan Book Review (5 / 5)