Elie Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor and the author of
Night, a memoir about his experience in Auschwitz. When she is in high school in the United States,
Clemantine reads
Night an identifies with the alienation and distrustfulness that Wiesel developed as a result of being a refugee and genocide survivor. Clemantine writes an essay connecting her and Wiesel’s experience and it wins an
Oprah essay contest. Clemantine and
Claire then appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show, where Elie Wiesel is a guest.