How to Hunt a Bear

By: Revital Shiri Horowitz

Narrated by: Bill Lewis

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

"In all the commotion, I noticed Shimon packing his pocketknife, which accompanied him wherever he went. 'Those Nazis, I hate them,' he mumbled. 'Nobody is going to come near us, and if they do, I don't even know what I'll do to them.' That's what my strong, brave, brother said, so it's no wonder I admire him. When I'm with him, nothing bad can happen to me."

This excerpt expresses how seven-year-old Ichu feels, as his family is expelled by the Nazis from their village in Poland, and exiled across the Russian border, where their unbelievable journey through the Soviet Union begins. The Hauzer family's story is told from three perspectives: Eighty-seven years old Itzhak, who lives in a nursing home in Jerusalem, who seeks to document his family story; young Itzhak (Ichu), who is seven years old at the beginning of the war; and Maya, a family history genealogist, whose life is forever altered by the gripping story of the Hauzer family.

Revital Shiri-Horowitz is a best seller author. She is the author of Daughters of Iraq (2008), Hope to See You Soon (2014), and It's Just Your Imagination (2018). Shiri Horowitz won the Achy Award (2008) and the Pinnacle Prize (2019), and her books are sold in Hebrew and English all over the world. Professor Lev Hakak of UCLA has lauded Horowitz for "weaving life stories with a faithful hand."

©2022 Revital Horowitz (P)2024 Revital Horowitz

Critic reviews

"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)