Lonek's Journey: The True Story of a Boy's Escape to Freedom
Acknowledgments You might think that writing a book involves only one person person the writer But that is not the case A great many people are involved in giving birth to a book Probably the most important person is Lonek This book is about him I spent many hours listening to him tell me about his life Then I wrote a book about his most unusual adventures and called it Escape via Siberia The publisher of that book thought that the story of Lonek would make a wonderful book for children children and suggested I contact Star Bright Books a publishing company that creates beautiful and interesting books for children children The publisher of Star Bright Books agreed and that made it possible for the book to reach you the reader While I was writing this book I thought it would be a good idea to check if young people really would find the story interesting interesting So I turned to Laura Conway an English teacher at The Louis Armstrong Middle School in New York City She gave a copy of the manuscript to each of the following children in her class Alexandra Bahamon Grace Bang Samantha Barriento Alexander Dediashvili Karla Gomez Jaimee Grant Jacob Nieves Alexander Pangourelias Shamiur Rahman Alif Alam and Ryu Gregory In addition Jonathan and Louden Pluta the nephews of my neighbor also read the manuscript These children evaluated and commented on each chapter chapter Their enthusiastic thoughtful feedback proved that the book would be interesting and exciting for children Here are 8
some of the children's comments A cliff hanger There is so much suspense I can't wait to read the next chapter It keeps me on the edge of my seat I don't want this book to end and I need to know what happens next The children's comments also reflected the ability of Lonek's Journey to arouse deep feelings in readers for instance It made me happy when Lonek was happy I wept when the children were in trouble I wanted to shout hooray when Lonek found his father This chapter put a big smile on my face A heart-wrenching heart-wrenching but amazing story and Wow you blew me away Feedback from the children also confirmed that the book would be thought provoking and enlightening for children I heard It gave me thoughts about what kind of life I would have led if I had been born at that time I want to know more about those places Lonek went to and I thought a lot about the book's meaning And last but not least the children helped me make sure that the book was written at a level that made for comfortable reading reading commenting I understood everything I think if anyone knows how to read they would understand this book and Everything was extremely clear Professionals relatives and friends all helped to create this book My daughter Lily who is a writer helped by contributing contributing excellent ideas She took time from her own writing to lend her assistance and expertise My husband Martin who is very knowledgeable about history offered useful suggestions assisted assisted in many practical ways and was supportive at all times He as well as many friends not only shared ideas with me but was 9
very understanding Whenever I was busy and could not participate participate in gatherings or other activities they all sympathized and never became impatient They always encouraged me to keep writing Of course last but not least a book needs to be read And that is where you the reader comes in Without you the book would just stand on a shelf But with you reading the book the purpose of my writing is fulfilled Thank reader you 10
BALTIC SEA LITHUANIA EAST PRUSSIA BIALYSTOCK POSNAN WARSAW POLAND LODZ LUBLIN GERMANY KRAKOW JAROSLAW LVOV SLOVAKIA HUNGARY THE PARTITION OF POLAND 1939 ROMANIA 0 100 Annexed by the Soviet Union in October 1939 Miles On September 1 1939 Germany invaded Poland from the west On September 17 1939 Russia invaded Poland from the east Poland was then divided between the two countries SOVIET RUSSIA
