Rachel’s Secret by Shelly Sanders (pub date 4/1/12)

“We are exiles in our own country.”

A young teen’s childhood innocence is lost forever as she faces hatred and violence in this powerful debut YA novel.

Inspired by actual events, Rachel’s Secret is set amidst the anti-Jewish riots which took place in 1903 Russia.  Fourteen-year-old Rachel is a bright and spirited Jewish girl, who dreams of one day becoming a writer.  After a day of ice skating with her friends, she returns to the ice pond to retrieve her lost shawl and ends up witnessing the murder of her gentile friend Mikhail.  Terrified of what could happen to her and her family if she reveals the truth, Rachel keeps what she saw a secret.

Soon after, Mikhail’s murder is blamed on the Jewish community, and wild stories about Jews killing gentiles for blood rituals are spread in the local newspapers.  Rachel, who never…