Tali is staying at her Oma's apartment after a storm demolishes their house. She is upset at losing everything. "People have survived worse," says her mother — Oma survived World War II, and never speaks of it. But that night, Oma shares her story of Holocaust survival, the brass monkey charm that she was given in the camp, and a message of kindness and perseverance in the face of disaster.

This book includes an author's note, in which Monique Polak explains how it was inspired by her mother's true experience at Terezin, a Nazi concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic. (From North Winds Press)

The Brass Charm is for ages 5 to 9.

Monique Polak is a Montreal-based author of books for children and young adults. Two of her YA novels, What World Is Left and Hate Mail, both won Quebec Writers' Federation Award for children's and young adult literature awards in 2009 and 2014.

Marie Lafrance is an artist and illustrator from Quebec. She also illustrated Oscar Lives Next Door by Bonnie Farmer and Bunny the Brave War Horse by Elizabeth MacLeod.