Fiction  >  Train

A novel inspired by hidden history

Over ten days in 1943 Berlin, six teenagers witness and try to escape the Nazi round-ups. This thriller gives voice to the unheard victims of Nazism — the Roma, the disabled, homosexuals, intermarried Jews, and political enemies of the regime.
Marko screwed up. But he's good at swallowing his fear.

By now, the 17-year-old 'Gypsy' should be far from Nazi Germany. By now, he should be with Alex. That's how they planned it. But while Marko has managed to escape the Gestapo, Alex has been arrested in the final round-ups of Berlin's Jews. Even worse, Marko’s little cousin Kizzy is missing. And Marko knows he’s to blame.

Yet the tides of war are turning. With hundreds of Christian women gathered in the streets to protest the round-ups, the Nazis have suspended the trains to the camps. But for how long? Marko must act now. Against time, and with British warplanes bombing Berlin, Marko hatches a dangerous plan to rescue Alex and find Kizzy.

There are three people who can help: Marko’s sister with her connections to the Resistance, Alex’s Catholic stepsister, and a mysterious Nazi girl with a deadly secret.

​But will Marko own up to how Kizzy disappeared? And then there’s the truth about Alex — they just wouldn’t understand.


​Train: NPR Interview   ►
The Morning Shift with Tony Sarabia,
​WBEZ 91.5 Chicago
​

The Accidental Holocaust Novelist
By Brian Schaefer,
Haaretz
​

Ava and Miriam
A connection between my daughter and a Holocaust survivor. The story behind the book cover of Train.
​

Love, War, and Fairy Tale Endings
Reflections on Train: At the Fountain of Fairy Tales,
a glimpse at what could have been.
​

​Train is published in partnership with Unsilence 
and is the central text of the new Holocaust education program Overlapping Triangles.
Cover art by Ava Kadishson Schieber
Cover design by Sergio Gutiérrez-Montero
Edited by Christa Desir
Copy-edited by Dahlia Adler


​PURCHASE:
​
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
CreateSpace.com

​
​​READ AN EXCERPT:

READ THE FIRST 50 PAGES.pdf
File Size: 587 kb
File Type: pdf
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​Praise & Endorsements: 

In 2016, Train was selected as the inaugural text of the 'Museum Teacher Fellowship' bookclub of the United States Holocaust Memorial Musuem

​​​"It's a fascinating book. I couldn't put it down.
I read it in two afternoons."
— Tony Sarabia, The Morning Shift, WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

​"A stunning achievement... From the start, Train's historically grounded depiction of Hitler's young victims creates unrelenting compassion and suspense."
— Dr. Phyllis Lassner, Holocaust scholar

​"Train not only fills a gap in Holocaust literature;
it is also powerful, moving, and hard to put down."
— Alexis Storch, The Center for Holocaust & Humanity Education

​"Train is an essential read for Holocaust and Genocide educators, students, and anyone who believes in the profound power of brilliant storytelling, the resilience of the human spirit, and the need to shed light on and bring voice to the often shadowed narratives of the Holocaust."
— Kelley Szany, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center

​"Train will change the way we think about Holocaust history."
— Ellen Rago, Social Studies Teacher

​"Train's six main characters' contradictions and complications make them reassuringly human rather than historical puppets. They form complex portraits of young love, sibling rivalry, and fading friendship."
— Liz Baudler, Windy City Times

​"It's a wonderful story, told frame by horrifying frame. What's happening on the page in front of you is at times so ugly, so abominable and raw, that that's the most beautiful thing about this book. It is an unflinching, cold, hard group of facts, laced with well-placed descriptions and with meticulously set plot progression. You want to turn away, but Cohen has created a story so harsh it's enchanting, and you'll stay until the end."
— Avigial Albert, Fresh Ink for Teens