Yellow Star [NOOK Book]

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Overview

From 1939, when Syvia is four and a half years old, to 1945 when she has just turned ten, a Jewish girl and her family struggle to survive in Poland's Lodz ghetto during the Nazi occupation.
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More About This Book

Overview

From 1939, when Syvia is four and a half years old, to 1945 when she has just turned ten, a Jewish girl and her family struggle to survive in Poland's Lodz ghetto during the Nazi occupation.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
In February 1940, four-and-half-year-old Syvia (later Sylvia) Perlmutter, her mother, father and 12-year-old sister, Dora, were among the first of more than 250,000 Jews to be forced into Poland's Lodz Ghetto. When the Russians liberated the ghetto on January 19, 1945, the Perlmutters were among only 800 people left alive; Syvia, "one day shy of ten years old," was one of just 12 children to survive the ordeal. The novel is filled with searing incidents of cruelty and deprivation, love, luck and resilience. But what sets it apart is the lyricism of the narrative, and Syvia's credible childlike voice, maturing with each chapter, as she gains further understanding of the events around her. Roy, who is Syvia's niece, tells her aunt's story in first-person free verse. "February 1940" begins: "I am walking/ into the ghetto./ My sister holds my hand/ so that I don't/ get lost/ or trampled/ by the crowd of people/ wearing yellow stars,/ carrying possessions,/ moving into the ghetto." The rhythms, repetitions and the space around each verse enable readers to take in the experience of an ordinary child caught up in incomprehensible events: "I could be taken away/ on a train,/ .../ and delivered to Germans/ who say that nothing belongs to Jewish people any-/ more./ Not even their own children." Nearly every detail-a pear Syvia bravely plucks from a tree in the ghetto, a rag doll she makes when her family must sell her own beloved doll-underscores the wedded paradox of hope and fear, joy and pain. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Children's Literature
During World War II, 270,000 Jews were herded into the Lodz ghetto in Poland. By war's end only 800 of those people had survived. Among the 800 survivors were twelve children. The true story of one of one of those survivors is told in this free verse tale of a young life in peril. Sylvia Perlmutter was four-years-old when the war started. When the Germans came to Lodz, her family could hardly imagine just how horrible they would be. Soon the Perlmutter family, as well as all the Jews in Lodz and surrounding areas, were crowded into a small walled off portion of the city. There, Sylvia and her family tried to scratch out a life for themselves. Over time virtually everyone they knew was transported out of the ghetto. Those people ended up in concentration camps where almost every single one of them died. The Perlmutters were both resourceful and lucky--they survived. Years later Sylvia shared her story with her niece, Jennifer Roy, and those stories became this moving work. Told in a free verse format, Yellow Star recreates the world of the Perlmutters as seen through the eyes of a little girl. Readers will encounter the tragedies and small pleasures of daily life that existed in those dark days. In the end, Sylvia and her family emigrated to North America and established a life that continues down through the generations of their family. The story of Sylvia and her family is an inspiring one and has been ably told in this poetic book. 2006, Marshal Cavendish, $ 16.95. Ages 10 up.
—Greg M. Romaneck
More Reviews (3) Fewer Reviews
VOYA
This wonderfully written first novel is based on the experiences of Syvia Perlmutter, one of only twelve children who survived the Lodz ghetto in Poland during World War II. Roy interviewed Perlmutter, who is actually her aunt, in 2003. Short "poems" and simple language appropriate for Syvia's age make the book a quick but poignant read. Syvia was four years old when her family reported to Lodz along with more than 270,000 others. In 1942, the Nazis began deporting children from Lodz to the Chelmno extermination camp. Parents were told that their children were being taken to safety, but Syvia's father suspected that the children would be killed and sought ways to hide her. The most inconspicuous hiding place was a graveyard where Syvia and her father lay in a shallow grave. When the final train departed Lodz headed for Auschwitz-Birkenau, only 1,200 Jews were left behind to clean the ghetto. Among them were twelve children whom they smuggled into a cellar. The survivors huddled together in 1945 while Russian soldiers bombed Lodz, but they were eventually liberated when the soldiers saw the reflection of their yellow stars of David. After five and a half years in the ghetto, Syvia spent her teen years in Paris and then later moved to Albany, New York. She now volunteers at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Social studies teachers and general readers will find the author's note, time line, and brief historical details prefacing each of the five parts of the book invaluable. This book is an essential purchase for school, public, and classroom libraries. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High,defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, Marshall Cavendish, 256p., Ages 12 to 18.
—KaaVonia Hinton Johnson
School Library Journal
Gr 5-9-In thoughtful, vividly descriptive, almost poetic prose, Roy retells the true story of her Aunt Syvia's experiences in the Lodz Ghetto during the Nazi occupation of Poland. The slightly fictionalized story, re-created from her aunt's taped narrative, is related by Syvia herself as a series of titled vignettes that cover the period from fall, 1939, when she is four years old, until January 1945-each one recounting a particular detail-filled memory in the child's life (a happy-colored yellow star sewn on her favorite orange coat; a hole in the cemetery where she hides overnight with her Papa). The book is divided into five chronological sections-each with a short factual introduction to the period covered. An appended author's note tells what happened to Syvia's family after the war. A time line of World War II, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, is also included. This gripping and very readable narrative, filled with the astute observations of a young child, brings to life the Jewish ghetto experience in a unique and memorable way. This book is a standout in the genre of Holocaust literature.-Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Syvia-the author's aunt-is too young to know what's happening, but she and her family have been evicted from their home and, with the other neighborhood Jews, have been relocated to the Lodz ghetto at the start of WWII. This novel-in-verse tells how Syvia and her family struggled to survive the war and describes their lives in the ghetto, Syvia being one of only 12 children who walked out at the end of the war. Poetry blends fact and fiction in a powerful format that helps make this incomprehensible event in history comprehensible for children. The fictionalized story is given context by brief nonfiction chapter introductions and is personalized by vivid characters who speak to a young-adult audience. Young readers will find this gripping tale that reads like memoir textured with the sounds, smell and sights of children in captivity. By telling this story so credibly and convincingly through the eyes of a child, the terror of the experience is rendered fresh and palpable for even the most jaded child reader. Classroom teachers might want to partner this book with Jerry Spinelli's Milkweed (2003). (Historical fiction. 10+)

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780761441984
  • Publisher: Cavendish, Marshall Corporation
  • Publication date: 9/11/2009
  • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 256
  • Sales rank: 113,365
  • Age range: 10 years
  • File size: 285 KB

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 45 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(37)

4 Star

(2)

3 Star

(2)

2 Star

(2)

1 Star

(2)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 45 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted February 7, 2008

    Outstanding book for young adults!!!

    This book was absolutely wonderful! Jennifer Roy told her aunt's 'Syvia' story in the first person, as if Syvia were telling the story herself. This is the story of how five year old Syvia and how her family was forced from their home in Lodz, Polland into the Lodz ghetto after the German Nazis invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Syvia and her family lived in the Lodz ghetto for five years. The conditions they were forced to live in were horrific...However, one thing I definately liked about this story was even though there were specific tragic events that took place, the story wasn't as graphic as other books I've read about the holocaust. Other Jewish accounts I've read were much more graphic and told specific details about how the Jews were starved, beaten, neglected, and killed. This book does describe how horrible the Jews were treated at the Lodz ghetto but it wasn't so graphic that you would not want young adults to read it. This would be an excellent book for young adults to read that would allow them to see what it was like to be a young child of 5-9 during the holocaust without all of the super gory details.

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 16, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    ..."Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness"...

    Here is a little girl who saw neighbors, cousins and playmates "disappear" all around her every day. A girl of 5 hides in a hole behind a tombstone for survival's sake and tomorrow thanks God for her family's well-being and for the meager ration of watery "soup" and weak coffee that was smuggled to her daily.
    What moved me personally was how behind the words of fear and horror a testimony of the importance of cherishing life and it's daily miracles through a child's eyes radiated profoundly.
    It amazed me how much this little girl had been wishing and yearning to go to school and learn.
    For example, Syvia, the main character, loved it when her older sister, Dora, taught her the alphabet on the dirt floor of their so-called apartment, and today, all I was thinking, as I walked from class to class was, "Ugh! I have SO much homework tonight! I hate school!"
    Other Holocaust books talk about loss of faith and the betrayal of God, but this one portrays the importance of faith and Him. Syvia and her family saw God on their side as they were spared daily. Isaac, Syvia's father, thrust his life in harm's way to reserve her's. To what extent would you go to save a loved one's life?
    Imagine, walking bare foot, through snow 2 feet tall, on an empty stomach, bombs bursting everywhere, confused and scared all at the same time! It's hard to paint that specific picture, but this was reality to the 800 survivors fleeing Lodz ghetto.
    This story has opened up my eyes a little wider and has impressed me to let my family, friends and neighbors know, daily, how much I love and care for them before they leave this state of being.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 19, 2009

    Great book

    i never thought i would like a book like this but i loved it i also recommend it

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted March 9, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    9780385751537 9780312370848

    Very Moving!!

    I was so moved by this book that I passed it on to two of my children, ages 13 and 16, two of their teachers, and some friends. I have recommended two books (historical fiction) below on this subject.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 28, 2008

    BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN IN POETRY!

    the book Yellow star was a great story. Its about a four year old girl, Syvia. She and her family are Jews and are forced into the Lodz Ghetto. After I read the book, I got so intrested in World WAr ll. THis book will make you understand a young girls point of view of living and surviving the Lodz ghetto. Syvias parents risked everything for her. This will make you cry, laugh and hate the Nazis. You won't regret reading this book!!!!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 2, 2012

    Yeow Star

    This is one of the best books i've ever read to now more and more about the holocaust. I recomend this book to you if you like stories about the holocaust.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 24, 2012

    Loved it

    This book was a great book u guys and women would love it its about a mother fathwr and there two daughters i cryed when i read this book... great book ever!!!!!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 14, 2012

    Five star book

    It really is a five star book

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 8, 2012

    Awesome!

    This story is awful. I mean It's good but very sad. It is only 75 pages but buy it. It's worth it.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 24, 2012

    Amazing book

    I really loved this book. I can't believe this book is actually a true story!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 22, 2012

    Yellow Star

    i suggest this book to everybody. i wish i can give this five trillion stars.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 30, 2011

    Wierd format

    I recently read the hard cover copy of this nook for a school project and i loved the book! Well i no longer have that book so i bought it for my nook so that i can write a paper o it and its hard to navigate necause its in a different format then the actual book.
    :(

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 18, 2011

    Vary powerful

    Vary powerful book i cried

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 23, 2011

    Powerful

    When i read this book we were talking about the holocast in school. And i decided to read this book.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 30, 2011

    I love this book

    I have this book in paperback, and it's my favorite!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 21, 2011

    Very Good!!!

    I really liked this book cause while reading it as if it was the little girl telling it as if she was still 10 years old. Not so graphic but still straight to the point. I read alot about this subject and alot different then others. The family stuck together and helped all the 12 children and the strength they all had is amazing. Must read!

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  • Posted September 7, 2011

    Love this book

    I am 11 to and what siprirsed me was this is a true story and she hade to go through that but she works at the holocost museum in wachighton ds cool

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 28, 2011

    Yellow star

    Best book ever. I am11and i love this book and it made me very interested in world war 2.

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  • Posted August 11, 2011

    Anonymous

    Good and Exciting Book

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  • Posted May 13, 2011

    Really great book

    I thought this was a really great book

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