Mona Golabek - Lisa of Willesden Lane

Lisa of Willesden Lane was adapted for young readers by Sarah J. Robbins. It is an abridgment of The Children of Willesden Lane: Young Readers Edition by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen and adapted by Emil Sher, published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Copyright 2021 by Mona Golabek

Illustrations copyright 2021 by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov

Discussion Guide copyright 2021 by Mona Golabek and Hachette Book Group

Photographs courtesy of Mona Golabek

Cover art copyright 2021 by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov. Cover design by Jenny Kimura. Cover copyright 2021 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

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First Edition: January 2021

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Golabek, Mona, author. | Cohen, Lee, author. | Robbins, Sarah J., other. | Ivanov, O. (Olga) illustrator. | Ivanov, A. (Aleksey) illustrator.

Title: Lisa of Willesden Lane: a true story of music and survival during World War II / Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen; abridged and adapted by Sarah J. Robbins; illustrations by Olga Ivanov and Aleksey Ivanov.

Description: New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2021. | Audience: Ages 6-10 | Summary: The true story of a girl who traveled on the Kindertransport during World War II and her experiences during a time of warProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020041430 | ISBN 9780316463072 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780316463065 (paperback) | ISBN 9780316540407 (ebook) | ISBN 9780316500869 (ebook other)

Subjects: LCSH: Golabek, Lisa JuraChildhood and youthJuvenile literature. | PianistsEnglandBiographyJuvenile literature. | Jews, AustrianEnglandBiographyJuvenile literature. | Jewish refugeesEnglandBiographyJuvenile literature. | LCGFT: Biographies.

Classification: LCC ML3930.G63 G67 2021 | DDC 786.2092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020041430

ISBNs: 978-0-316-46307-2 (hardcover), 978-0-316-46306-5 (pbk.), 978-0-316-54040-7 (ebook)

E3-20201126-JV-NF-ORI

This book is dedicated to young readers everywhere.

May Lisas story inspire you to find the music within your heart and the dream you wish to follow.

M y mother, Lisa, was my best friend and my teacher. She taught my sister, Rene, and me to play the piano. She would always say to me, Mona, each piece of music tells a story. And in those piano lessons, she told me the story of her life.

Lisa was a young refugee from Austria who boarded the Kindertransport and left her home and her family just before World War II. She never forgot what her mother (my grandmother) told her on a cold December day in 1938 at the Vienna train station: Lisa, hold on to your music, and I will be with you every step of the way.

My mother found a new home and new friends in a Jewish hostel on Willesden Lane in the northern part of London. As the war broke out, she fueled Britains war efforts with long hours at the sewing machine in the East End factories. As bombs from the Blitz rained down on London at night, she pounded out the chords of the Grieg piano concerto, determined to keep her promise. That music gave her the strength to face an uncertain future, while inspiring all the other Jewish refugee children who lived in the hostel with her.

I decided to write this book to help readers think through important questions: What do you hold on to in life when facing great challenges? What is our purpose? How do we help our fellow humankind?

I have shared this story with thousands of students across the globe, and in turn, young people have shared the impact of the story on them. We connect with Lisa and the violence she faced, a high school student from Chicago wrote. But the student added, If Lisa can do it, I can do it. During a school visit in California, a student told me, I dont know yet what I want to do with my life, but this book has helped me decide what kind of person I want to be.

Like my mother, the heroine of this book, I hope that others will discover the courage to be a hero in their own lives.

L isa Jura boarded the streetcar and headed across the city for her piano lesson with Professor Isseles.

She loved the ride.

Every Sunday since her tenth birthday, the fourteen-year-old girl left her home in the Jewish section of Vienna, Austria, and made the trip. It felt like going back in time, to a city of grand palaces and great composers like Mozart and Beethoven. Lisa dreamed of living up to their legacy.

As the streetcar passed Symphony Hall, Lisa closed her eyes and imagined sitting at the piano in the great auditorium. She straightened her back as her mother had taught her, took a breath, and pretended to play.

Lisas daydream ended when she heard the driver calling out her stop. His words were strange and different: Meistersinger Street. Why hadnt he said, Mahler Street, as usual?

Lisa climbed down into the great plaza to see that all the street signs had changed. The Nazis, the prejudiced political party that now held power in Austria, did not want such a grand avenue named after Gustav Mahler, a Jewish composer.

At the professors old stone building, Lisa was surprised to see a German soldier blocking the doorway.

What business do you have here? he asked coldly.

I have a piano lesson, she replied, trying not to be frightened.

From the second-floor window, the professor waved to say that it was all right for the girl to come up. Frowning, the soldier allowed Lisa to pass.

Lisa was relieved to see Professor Isseles. For the next hour, she could forget everything and be a part of the music she loved.

Placing the score of Beethovens Moonlight Sonata on the music stand, she sat on the worn piano bench and began to play. The white-haired professor followed along with his copy of the music.

For most of the hour Lisa played, the old man sat in silence. Shed hoped he would smile. After all, hed said she was his best student. Why did he look so upset? Was she playing that badly?