Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 Summary

Now that she is in school, Esther's world is focused on more everyday things like algebra versus the hard labor of an exile. She wants more than anything to fit in with the other schoolchildren. At random times, the food continues to go missing but no one can determine the culprit. Esther develops a cough that persists and she is forced to stay away from school. The news crushes her, but shortly after, she encounters a real terror.

A man comes to their door, another deportee from another labor camp. He tells them that their grandfather Solomon has passed away. Her grandmother screams and their family enters into the mourning period. They start to have the ritual mourning services and are interrupted by the police. They are accused of conducting synagogue services in their home, which is against the...