View a FREE sample

Part 1: Chapter 1

• The story opens with four children playing in a high school gym with some wooden blocks.

• Joseph, Bronya, Hela and Manya are children to Monsieur Sklodovska, professor of physics and under-inspector for the school, and his wife.

• The family switched to education as estates became poorer and poorer.

• Manya's mother went to school to be a teacher and then became the director of the same school she went to, while her father followed in his father's footsteps to become a math and physics teacher.

• The Russians are in control of Poland and have required that education be conducted in Russian and eliminated the Polish from the curriculum, which has caused frustration and conflict.

• Manya's father has difficulty getting along with the Russian principal.

• Manya feels the conflict, though she doesn't understand it all.

• Manya is a bright child who teaches herself to read and is fascinated...

(read more Chapter Abstracts)

This section contains 3,176 words (approx. 11 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample