The Zeppelin Chronicles

by Ben Ditmars

Join three young friends who hijack a magic zeppelin and travel through time to stop the Holocaust in this work of historical fantasy. Feel what it was like to be aboard a mighty airship, and experience the horrors of the Holocaust first hand.

27 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 2, 2013

About the author

Ben Ditmars was first published in his college publications the Cornfield Review and KAPOW and has since been featured in several online literary journals. He is the author of six poetry books including Night Poems, Haiku in the Night, Inhale the Night, Sleeping with Earth, Number Poetry and Splinters with Susie Clevenger. He lives in Ohio with his wife, De’Garrica, and dachshund, Elsa.

Reviews

[CR Hiatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't often search out books on the holocaust; it is such a horrific topic, but I became interested in this short story after seeing the cover and reading a review on a blog post. The description immediately intrigued me, because it reminded me of the movie, Life is Beautiful, where a Jewish father helps his son survive the horrors of a Jewish Concentration Camp by playing make believe. I was riveted to the screen during the movie.

I had the same reaction with The Zeppelin Chronicles. Author, Ben Ditmars, created an emotionally moving reading experience. When The Zeppelin magically appeared, three kids, Susan, Millie, and Kip, traveled through time and into a fantasy world where they, too, were confronted with the horrors of the holocaust. Honestly, there were moments, while the kids were on the Zeppelin, I almost felt like they (I, as a reader) was on the train that was taking them to Aushwitz.

I highly recommend this book as a quick, but very moving read.

[Cinta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful story has really surprised me. Talking about the terrible events that happened during the Nazi domination in Germany is not an easy task, but Ben Ditmars manages to write a delicious sweet story about that. How? By presenting the events through the innocence of children's eyes.

When a mysterious and magical zeppelin appears in their lives, Susan, Millie, and Kip know that things won't ever be the same. Mixing history with magical elements and even sci-fi, this story makes us look at the Holocaust in a different way.

Surprising story, very well written, that will make you experience different feelings, despite its brevity. A must-read, for sure. Well done!

[Susie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben did an amazing job with this book. Three children set out on a time traveling zeppelin for an adventure that turned them into heroes. When they climbed aboard the zeppelin I expected adventure, but not the serious turn it took when they found themselves in Germany during the time of the holocaust.

The book is a great read and I can't wait to find out where the children will go next!

[Helle Gade · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Zeppelin Chronicles caught me from start to end. The story keeps surprising you all the way through. Magic, time traveling, a zeppelin and heroic kids, what more can a fantasy book worm ask for. I loved it and I'm sure that you will too.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kip told Susan and Millie about his adventure aboard the Zeppelin. He told everyone, the parents and Susan didn't believe him. The zeppelin is a time machine and magical . It's comes around once a year. Kip tells Susan today is the day. Susan wants to prove him wrong so he looks silly to people. She and Millie follow Kip to a clearing and wait and wait. Just when Susan thinks Kips fibbing the zeppelin shows up. The ship opens and this Guy says something and Kip goes up to ship and starts boarding and Millie and Susan follow. At first everything seems normal, but Susan notices there are people on board who are dead. They fly over Germany and Susan sees other ships shooting at the people and hopes they don't shoot anything, she looks around and people don't seem to mind. Then the ship has some turbulence and that's when things turn a little scary. Susan sees things she can't believe. Kip tells her he seen the same thing last time he was aboard, it was the only part he didn't like. They both saw the holocaust happening. Buy the book and see how the kids make out. It's very well written and the author turns something horrible into an adventure with kids that is nice to read.Amazon.com is the place to get it. Thank you for sharing your books with us Ben.