Adam Bagdasarian’s debut novel was inspired by the experiences of his great uncle, who lived through the Armenian genocide in Turkey in 1915. Vahan Kenderian is 12 years old as the story opens. He describes his life, as the son of an influential Armenian family, as comfortable to the point of luxury. But early in 1915, everything changes. The Turkish government begins to arrest Armenians, Vahan’s father and uncles among them. When one of his uncles returns, haggard, gaunt, and beaten, he has small bags of poison for Vahan’s mother and sisters in “case there is any trouble.” “I did not know when I opened my eyes the next morning that it was the last day of my childhood,” says Vahan. That is the day the gendarmes execute two of Vahan’s older brothers before the family’s eyes. The rest are arrested and detained in a small room with dozens of other Armenians. Vahan manages to escape with his remaining brother when they are being marched to a new location. His brother soon dies, and Vahan is alone, surviving by wit, luck, and the occasional assistance of a sympathetic Turk. He relates his experiences in the voice of a child betrayed, confused, but determined to survive. Bagdasarian writes with haunting realism, describing brutality in painfully beautiful prose. A chilling epigraph underscores the importance of knowing and remembering this and all other holocausts: “Who does now remember the Armenians?”--Adolph Hitler, 1939. (Age 14 and older)

A National Book Award Finalist.

In 1915 Vahan Kenderian is living a life of privilege as the youngest son of a wealthy Armenian family in Turkey. This secure world is shattered when some family members are whisked away while others are murdered before his eyes.

Vahan loses his home and family, and is forced to live a life he would never have dreamed of in order to survive. Somehow Vahan’s incredible strength and spirit help him endure, even knowing that each day could be his last.