Newbery Honor Winner 'The Upstairs Room' now available as an enhanced ebook

NEW YORK, Dec. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- With major awards including the Newbery Honor, the Jewish Book Council Children's Book Award, and the Buxtehuder Bulle, the autobiographical novel, The Upstairs Room, is regarded by children and adults alike as an inspiring story of a young Jewish girl's will to survive despite unbelievable odds during the Holocaust. Johanna Reiss' touching memoir can now be experienced as an enhanced ebook, which brings the past alive with a 360-degree look at where it all happened.

"Readers can now really see the places where it all happened," says Reiss who, upon seeing the technology from her computer in New York City, was overwhelmed when she was virtually transported to the doorstep of her old house in Holland where her survival had perilously hung in the balance.

Elie Wiesel considers The Upstairs Room's moving story "as important in every aspect as the one bequeathed to us by Anne Frank." It is considered a Young Adult classic and is required reading in schools along with The Book Thief, Number the Stars, and The Devil's Arithmetic.

The enhanced ebook editions of The Upstairs Room and its sequel The Journey Back provide readers with a variety of new ways to understand and experience Johanna Reiss' unforgettable story.

• Interact with Google Maps links for 360-degree views of the area where Johanna lived, plus other key locations
• See photos -- then and now -- of the locations where Johanna stayed
• Meet the family who risked their lives to save Johanna's with never before seen photos.
• Read a new in-depth interview with the author.  

Written by Johanna Reiss (nee Johanna "Annie" de Leeuw), the award-winning The Upstairs Room has been translated into several languages and was so popular that her follow up, The Journey Back, also became a top seller, and is now available as an enhanced ebook as well.

The Upstairs Room is the story of Johanna's almost three years in hiding as a Jewish child in Nazi-occupied Holland during World War II. A family of farmers who had never met Johanna or her sister before, risked their lives by taking them in.

"Stop that blubbering" Johan the farmer said to his wife. "Action is what's needed. The cows will be fine. You can get scared after the war."

Forced to hide in an attic space, one wrong move could have cost everyone their lives.

"We couldn't go near the windows. If a neighbor or a passerby caught sight of us, it could mean certain death. At one point the Nazis even set up their headquarters in the first floor of the house. One creak, or noise from us right above them, would have meant the end. This is how we lived for almost three years."

"I'm so glad readers can now learn about my life during and right after the Holocaust in even more detail and with more interactivity than ever before."

Perfect for school reports, both enhanced e-book editions are available from your favorite ebook retailer such as Apple iBookstore, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook. For more information, visit www.graymalkin.com.

Graymalkin Media

Graymalkin Media publishes award-winning titles in a variety of formats including print, ebooks, and audiobooks. They publish Nothing Lasts Forever, which was the basis for the Bruce Willis Die Hard movie along with other prominent authors that include Pulitzer Prize winners, Newbery Honor winners, and New York Times bestselling authors. They distribute to retailers, libraries, and distribution partners worldwide. 

Johanna Reiss is available for interviews and school visits. 

Contact: Joyce Stein
[email protected]
914-980-5108

SOURCE Graymalkin Media