Real Time

Set in contemporary Israel, this powerful novel is narrated in real time by many voices: Sixteen-year-old Thomas, from Berlin, seeking answers to questions about his grandfather, a Nazi officer in World War II. Vera from Odessa, reclaiming her Jewish heritage. Baruch Ben Tov, a Holocaust survivor. Sameh Laham, illegally employed at a diner. His boss. Sameh’s friend Omar. A Palestinian doctor in an Israeli hospital. A mother. A soldier.
A newscaster . . .

Minute by minute, hour by hour, these lives and many others unfold—and then intersect in one violent moment on a highway outside Jerusalem. Each is drastically and irrevocably changed. What do secrets, hopes, dreams, and future plans mean after such a catastrophe? Can what was destroyed be made whole again?

"tense and heartbreaking...a complex kaleidoscope of perspectives...taut, immediate story...riveting...real-world terrorism...Kass is spot-on." KIRKUS REVIEWS Kirkus Reviews

"exhausting but illuminating...characters are deeply developed and painfully sympathetic as they find that they are inextricably and unexpectedly connected." SLJ School Library Journal

"Timely novel explores the effects of a terrorist act from multiple points of view" PW Publishers Weekly

"shows how drastically lives can change from moment to the next...make(s) a strong impression" HORN BOOK Horn Book

"Good reading for thoughtful teens." VOYA VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)

"Tense, terrifying...stories draw readers in...unforgettable is the grief and the chaos of the bombing and its aftermath." BOOKLIST Booklist, ALA