Miri’s story, 10 years on

For Robyn Bavati, writing a Holocaust novel for children came down to one question: what if this is the only book they ever read on the subject?

It’s a question she took from history teachers. They had told Scholastic Australia that most students reached year 10 knowing very little about the Holocaust, and those who had read something had usually read just one book, typically The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas or The Diary of Anne Frank. The first is a literary masterpiece but a fable told through the eyes of a German child. The second is a true and important account, but limited to what Anne herself saw and heard.

When the publisher approached Bavati in February 2014, they wanted more. Realistic stories for readers in years 5 to 8, written by Jewish Australian authors and told from the point of view of a Jewish child. The plan was a series of four novels, all set in Warsaw, the city with the largest Jewish population before World War II. They asked Bavati because they had admired her debut novel, Dancing in the Dark, which was critically well received and had Jewish themes.

“It seemed like a huge subject to tackle, but knowing how little most children knew about the Holocaust, and the importance of educating them, I accepted the challenge,” Bavati told The AJN.

The publisher could not find four authors, so Within These Walls was published as a standalone. Bavati held on to that question.