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Title details for Let's Make Things Better by Gidon Lev - Available

Let's Make Things Better

A Holocaust Survivor's Message of Hope and Celebration of Life

by Gidon Lev
Julie Gray
Audiobook
1 of 2 copies available
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1 of 2 copies available
"To me, hard times are like hide-and-seek—where is the solution, where is the hope? We can never give up looking for these things because they are just waiting to be found." —Gidon Lev
On May 8, 1945, when he was just ten years old, Gidon Lev was liberated from a Nazi concentration camp after four nightmarish years. Twenty-six family members, including Gidon's beloved father and grandparents, were murdered in the Holocaust. Only Gidon and his mother survived.
From the depths of despair, a little boy who had lost so much was determined to build a life filled with adventure and love. And that is exactly what he did. Today, a spritely and cheerful octogenarian and father of six, Gidon speaks to celebrities and diplomats all over the world and has taken social media by storm—all with his signature candor, charm, and wisdom.
Just what makes this Holocaust survivor, rascal, and dogged optimist tick? Sharing remarkable stories from his extraordinary life, Lev reveals his secrets of happiness and fulfillment. From reconciling with the sometimes painful past to embracing this singular gift called life, Gidon has never taken a day of his life for granted—and neither should we.
"You don't get the life you want," Gidon says, "you get the life that you get."
Let's Make Things Better is the story of an indomitable spirit whose cheerful determination to never give up is just what we need during these uncertain times. Now more than ever, Gidon Lev has important lessons for us all about life and how to live it well: having the courage to stand up to hate, living for the moment, believing in ourselves, nurturing loving and caring relationships, and always, always believing that a better world is something worth fighting for.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    November 12, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781668644805
      • File size: 225960 KB
      • Duration: 07:50:44

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 2, 2024
      Lev, an 80-something influencer whose TikTok account pushes back against Holocaust denialism, debuts with a moving if scattershot account of rebuilding his life after WWII. Born in a small Czechoslovakian village, Lev recalls an idyllic childhood upended by the Nazis’ 1938 invasion, which drove the family to Prague before they were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1941 (only he and his mother survived). He narrates his struggle in tender, unsparing detail: scrambling for food scraps; enduring constant cold and hunger; celebrating such small joys as befriending and falling “in love” with a little girl with whom he shared a room before she was “sent east.” The camp was liberated when Lev was 10, though more pain followed as his mother sank into depression, refusing to discuss the war or the deaths of more than two dozen relatives (“I felt that my mother depressed, suppressed, and oppressed me. I wish I had been able... to break through her anger”). Such candid, gutting moments are the book’s greatest strength; less effective are chapters covering his first and second marriages, as well as rote self-help suggestions that can feel like an afterthought. Flaws aside, it’s a valuable account of the Shoah at a moment of rising antisemitism.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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