What the Night Sings

Before she was taken away, Gerta played the viola every day, walked home from choir practice with her papa, and admired the beautiful dresses in her stepmother's closet.

Before she was taken away, Gerta did not know she was Jewish.

Two years later, Gerta's world has completely changed. The Nazis have destroyed everyone and everything in her life. And when Gerta is liberated from the concentration camps, she finds herself utterly bereft.

Without her loved ones or her music, she must begin to live again, as a survivor.
In the displaced persons camp where she is sent, Gerta meets Lev, a fellow teen survivor who has visions of a new life for him-self. And it's there, in a place where freedom can finally blossom, that Gerta must choose her own future. But how can you move forward when your identity has been stripped away-when learning what the word Jewish really means is only the first step? For Gerta, finding faith in the music is just the beginning.

In her lushly illustrated debut, Vesper Stamper creates an unforgettable narrative, digging deep into the heart of what it was like to endure unspeakable horror and depicting the strength it took for Holocaust survivors to go on and rebuild. What the Night Sings finds the space between light and dark, where the last spark of hope remains.