Inspired by the story of Esther Stermer and her family who escaped the Nazi's and survived underground for 511 days.

Hanna has split her time between exploring Kwasova with her younger siblings, sharing drawings over lunch with the sweet and shy Leon Stadnick, and assisting her neighbor, Mrs. Petrovich, with her annual dyeing and selling of psyanky, decorative eggs many in their community consider talismans. But before long, she, Leon and their families are forced into hiding, first in the woods outside of their town and then into caverns beneath it. They battle sickness and starvation, and the local peasants who join the Nazis in hunting Jews through the ravaged countryside, but at no time are they more tested than when Hanna's father - briefly above ground to scavenge for food - goes missing, and suddenly, it's on Hanna to find him, and to find a way to keep her mother, brother and sister alive.

My Real Name is Hanna is inspired by the true story of Esther Stermer and her family, who survived underground for 511 days, far longer than anyone ever has; expert cavers, by contrast, have only lasted a handful of months. Less than 5% of the Jewish population in Ukraine survived the Holocaust "Actions." The Stermers are one of the few families that remained intact. Their story is the focus of an award-winning documentary, No Place on Earth, but it - like so many Ukrainian stories of the Holocaust - has yet to be explored in literature outside of Esther's own self-published, difficult to find memoir. My Real Name Is Hanna will resonate with fans of Anna and the Swallow Man and The Librarian of Auschwitz. In lyrical prose and innovative structure, Hanna's story celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit, the beauty of a helping hand, and the power of family connections.

"Tara Masih's lovely, lyrical My Real Name is Hanna made me feel like I was reading a part of my parents' story that I'd neglected to write. Filled with breathtaking you-are-there historical detail, filigreed with touches of Jewish and Ukrainian folklore, Masih's tale of a young Jewish girl hiding out in the caves and forests of the Ukraine is a worthy addition to the canon of Holocaust literature for young readers. As fine, delicate, and artful as a painted pysanka egg."-Helen Maryles Shankman, They Were Like Family to Me, finalist for The 2016 Story Prize

"It's said the Holocaust defies imagination. Tara L. Masih defies that notion. My Real Name is Hanna is a powerful, revelatory leap of imagination, taking readers on a journey with 14-year-old Hanna from the slowly enveloping horror of the Holocaust, to the literal and spiritual depths of being buried alive, and finally a salvation of ineffable joy and sadness-emerging from a premature grave into sunlight like a defiant young phoenix. An unforgettable odyssey."-Greg Dawson, Hiding in the Spotlight: A Musical Prodigy's Story of Survival

"My Real name is Hanna is a beautifully told and deeply moving novel. Masih is to be commended for shining light on a little-known piece of Ukrainian history and for portraying a Jewish family determined to survive the Second World War. This novel is about the stories that surround and sustain us in the darkest times-from the histories in the trees and in the ground beneath us to the words that feed us."-New York Times Bestselling Author Tilar J. Mazzeo, Irena's Children, a New York Post Best Book of 2016

"From the very first lines, this is a beautiful, compelling story. I was moved again and again by Hanna's courage. It takes a strong imagination and a great heart to bring to life a Jewish family's struggle to survive in such a dark time as World War II. In bringing light to the caves of memory, Tara Masih gives us the redeeming power of storytelling in this extraordinary story."-PEN/Hemingway Award winner Bobbie Ann Mason, The Girl in the Blue Beret and In Country

"My Real Name is Hanna is a stirring story of survival, resilience, and love. Masih breathes life into the smallest of details, and gives us a powerful look into a world not often explored." -Crystal Chan, Bird, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, winner of the 2015 Burr/Worzalla Award

"A gripping story of courage and endurance in the face of Nazi terror. Tara Masih draws her readers into the lives of a Ukrainian Jewish family, into the persecution and unbelievable hardship suffered during the German occupation of their homeland. My Real Name is Hanna is a book that lives with you long after you have turned the final page."-Diney Costeloe, Bestselling Author of The Girl with No Name and The Throwaway Children