The Boy on the Wooden Box - A Memoir of Leon Leyson with Marilyn J. Harran and Elisabeth B. Leyson

Leon Leyson was one of the youngest members of Schindler's list. Believing no one would be interested in his story, he rarely spoke about his experiences until the film Schindler's List received worldwide attention. 

Even in the darkest of times—especially in the darkest of times—there is room for strength and bravery. A remarkable memoir from Leon Leyson, one of the youngest children to survive the Holocaust on Oskar Schindler’s list.

Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto. With incredible luck, perseverance, and grit, Leyson was able to survive the sadism of the Nazis, including that of the demonic Amon Goeth, commandant of Plaszow, the concentration camp outside Krakow. Ultimately, it was the generosity and cunning of one man, a man named Oskar Schindler, who saved Leon Leyson’s life, and the lives of his mother, his father, and two of his four siblings, by adding their names to his list of workers in his factory—a list that became world renowned: Schindler’s List.

In recognition of his many accomplishments as an educator and a witness to the Holocaust, Mr. Leyson was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters form Chapman University. He taught high school in Huntington Park, California, for 39 years.  
Mr. Leyson passed away in January 2013, leaving behind his wife, Lis; their two children; and their six grandchildren.



231 pages

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

Fifteen-year-old Sam Gribley has decided to run away from his crowded apartment home, but unlike most kids who rarely get beyond their block, Sam goes from New York City all the way to the ruined farm of Great-grandfather Gribley in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York. There are no buildings or people on the old Gribley farm, so Sam sets up residence by hollowing out the trunk of an ancient Hemlock tree. He has brought only a few tools of survival with him: a penknife, a ball of cord, an ax, 40 dollars, and some flint and steel to help him make fire. Using these simple tools and his wits, Sam learns to live off the land, and in the course of a year, discovers just how much he values freedom, independence, and adventure when faced with the challenges of blizzards, loneliness and fear.

177 pages
Lexile 810
Jean Craighead George's Website

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Also try On the Far Side of the Mountain and Frightful's Mountain- sequels to My Side of the Mountain.