Yellow Star is excellent. The book is written in first person, from the authors interviews of her aunt who was one of the only children who survived the Lodzer Ghetto. I was deeply moved by her writing, not only as an avid reader, but as a person who lost an extensive family in Lodz during WW2 .

This book is recommended reading fr anyone who wants to now what happened during those horrific times.

Manny Litwak

This is a must read for children and adults alike. As an adult I have been enjoying reading the books written for children lately. They tell the truth of what really happened but they are not so graphic as to totally terrify a child.

I found this book very encouraging and moving. Please read this book with your children and grandchildren, talk about it and let us never forget so this will never happen again.

Beautifully written.

I am always trying to educate myself on The Holocaust since I teach a unit over it during the school year. This year I attended an educator conference for teaching The Holocaust and one of the speakers highly recommend this book, so I went home and ordered it. When I received it, I sat on the couch and started to read it. Two hours later I got up feeling like I had just lived through a horrible nightmare. This book is amazing. You are there feeling and seeing everything. If you have any interest in stories about The Holocaust, this is one to add to your library.

Thinking my 12-year-old daughter would enjoy this after studying WWII, I brought it home...only to have it be seen in the hands of our 17-year-old daughter. Now I have it. The 12-year-old gets it tomorrow. Highly, highly recommended.

My seven-year-old daughter selected this book at our local library. She has been studying events of WWII, and consequently, has become both fascinated and enraged by the Nazi regime. I previewed the book first and found it to be a moving, gripping portrayal of ghetto life from a child's perspective. I have read a lot about the Holocaust, but this book moved me to tears. The style of first-person narrative allowed me to understand Syvia's hopes, fears, dreams and despairs.

I bought this book for my daughter for Christmas. I had never heard of it, but it came up as recommended when I bought "The Boy in The Striped Pajamas" as a gift for someone else (which is amazing, btw.) So, had no idea what I was getting really, except subject matter, of course. My daughter read it on our Christmas vacation and then passed it on to me, and I passed it on to my mother-in-law (it is a book you can read in one sitting.) What was unique about it is, that it is actually written in poetry format, but all the poems link together to form the story. It is a youth book (I believe) so it is extremely accessible, but very sensitively written and moving.

It is difficult for me to find words that adequately describe the power of Yellow Star. Told in beautifully flowing free verse, through the eyes of a child, the story of young Syvia Perlmutter leadens the stomach but leaves the reader with a new appreciation for life. Maybe it's something to do with Syvia being the age of my own daughters or knowing that in some parts of the world children are now being taught that the atrocities of the holocaust never occurred, but this story ripped my heart out time and time again from beginning to end. As a Jewish child imprisoned in the Lodz ghetto during World War II, Syvia's innocence and fear are nothing short of gut-wrenching. The most powerful verse for me comes when this nine year old girl finally becomes so weak with illness and emaciation she can no longer move. She says simply, "I feel like a pile of bones/ lying in the corner" (144).

The overall mood of this novel isn't depressing, however. Despite the unspeakable horrors that befell the people of the Lodz getto, and against all odds, one innocent little girl in particular manages to live on. In surroundings that would drive any adult past the breaking point, Syvia finds ways to make it through each day, inventing quiet games with what little she has and spending what must have been the majority of each dreary day alone, in total silence. At some points she is almost happy while at others she barely exists. This is a story of survival, one that is sometimes so shocking it's hard to remember it actually happened. I caught myself hoping time and time again that little Syvia was just a figment of the author's imagination, though even if she had been, the skill with which she was written wouldn't have made her story or circumstances any less terrible.

It is rare for me to feel so strongly about a novel, especially one written for children, but once I started reading Yellow Star, I simply couldn't put it down. With each passage came a flood of feeling: hope for a new day, shock at the behavior of one human being to another, thankfulness for small yet significant victories, disconsolation over the loss of what little remained. Reading well into the early hours of the morning, eyes blurry with tears, I didn't want to know what happened to this sweet little girl and her family-- I needed to. I couldn't close the book until Syvia conquered her private hell. The author gave me no choice but to believe in this unlikely child heroine. In her words, "A hero. Me. The mouse./ Who would have guessed that?" (221-2)

Yellow Star will be on my bookshelf for years to come so that when they have grown mature enough, my own young ones will be able to read and hopefully appreciate this story as much as I did. The faith that kept this little girl and her family alive in the face of such unbelievable adversity should serve as in inspiration to the children we are raising in America today. When a little girl's greatest dream is to have a single doll and to live another day without being executed on the whim of a stranger, the importance of cell phones and fancy sneakers certainly pales in comparison. Read Yellow Star. Buy it for the people you care about. This book will stand the test of time and teaches lessons that cross over the boundaries of race and religion to reach the essence of our human souls. You will not be disappointed in this short but memorable read.

I wasn't really looking forward to reading this book that I needed to read for my librarian job, but I was thoroughly engrossed by it. The atrocities of the period are still there, but they are told in a way that younger children can read and relate to as can older readers as well. Very well written and very interesting, especially since it is based on a true account.

My neighbor, a homeschool mom, originally told me about this book. I checked a copy out from the library and was so moved by it that I purchased a copy for our home library. I have a 10-year -old and this book is perfect for the summer unit on The Holocaust I have planned. Yellow Star, despite the unthinkable horrors it recounts, it is written in a delicate prose that will fill your heart with ache and amazement in this personal account written through the eyes of a child.

In 1939, 270,000 Jews were forced to move into the Lodz Ghetto. In 1945, there were only 800 survivors and among them only 12 children. Told in verse, Yellow Star is the story of Syvia Perlmutter, one of the surviving children, who hid in the ghetto with her family. The simple yet descriptive narrative is powerful and beautifully captures the voice and thoughts of a very young girl. The prologue, chapter introductions, author's note, and time line provide readers with the necessary background information to fully understand and appreciate Syvia's story, appropriately placing it into the context of the War. While several books exist about life in the Warsaw Ghetto, Roy provides readers with an unforgettable account of the Lodz Ghetto. Recommend along with My Secret Camera by Mendel Grossman.

Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy is a marvelous book. Telling a horrible story through verse, Jennifer brings the true story of her Aunt Syvie vividly to life. Showing Syvie's childish confusion and fear in the face of events that turn her world upside down, the book is sad and terrifying, but also hopeful and full of love. The courage of the Jews of Lodz is remarkable, and the rescue by the Russian pilot-turned-horseman will make you believe in miracles. Children should read it. Parents should read it. This dark period in the history of the world can never be forgotten.

Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy is a middle grade novel about what happened to the Jews imprisoned in the Lodz, Poland ghetto during World War II. Which I know makes it sound depressing. And it's quite sad, certainly. It brought tears to my eyes more than once, especially near the end. But Yellow Star is filled with love, bravery, hope, and compassion, too. Ultimately, it's inspirational. The book is based on a true story.

Yellow Star is told from the perspective of Syvia Perlmutter, who was, with her family, locked into the Lodz ghetto when she was 4 1/2 years old. As described in the foreword to the book, 270,000 people were forced into this ghetto during the course of the war. More than five years later, Syvia walked out of the ghetto alive. She was one of only 800 people left. Only twelve of the survivors were children. That's right. Twelve.

More than fifty years later, Syvia (now called Sylvia) told her story to her niece, Jennifer Roy, who found that the best way to tell the story was to tell it in Syvia's own voice. The story is classified as fiction, because of course no one can be sure of every detail, but the book rings true throughout. Because this is Syvia's story, and we know from the introduction that Syvia survives to adulthood, this story isn't as scary as it might be otherwise. I think that's a good thing, because it's quite scary enough. I kept shaking my head throughout the book, reminding myself that this was real, not some movie version of a story.

The book is told in very short sentences, like a young child's memories. This format (it's a free verse novel) makes it easily accessible to kids. There is plenty of white space in the text, and the poems/sections are quite short.

What stands the most in this book, to me, is the strength of love that Syvia's parents had for her. They did whatever it took to protect her and keep her safe under impossible circumstances. Her father, especially, showed himself to be a brave leader, who also helped others outside of the family. As for Syvia, she mostly accepts what's happening to her as inevitable, and tells us about facts. But sometimes she wonders about the bigger picture. For example:

"I am certainly no one special or important.
Just one plain brown-haired, skinny girl.
But I am alive and still here.
Am I lucky?
Surely not as lucky as children
who are not Jews.
But every day I get to be with
my parents and sister,
and in the ghetto that is
more than luck.
It is a miracle."

Syvia goes through terrible things. She loses friends and relatives, and her precious doll. She has to hide from the Nazis, who are removing all of the children. Her family doesn't have enough food, or heat. The Nazis shoot people on the street, and send people off in freight cars. At one point, she resorts to naming and playing with dust bunnies, and calling them her toys. But Syvia maintains her spirit, and the love for her family. She survives, in part through her own actions, and in part through the combined efforts of the adults around her. And that's inspirational.

I highly, highly recommend this book. Yellow Star recounts an important chapter in World War II, from the perspective of an actual child who survived. Hearing about the Lodz ghetto from Syvia, who only gradually comes to understand what's going on herself, should keep the story from being overwhelming for most kids. The strong parental love displayed in the book should also act as a counterweight to balance the more negative elements. This is a book that I'll want to read again, and want kids I care about to read, too.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on July 31st, 2006.

Syvia's story moves the reader between the terror and desperation in the Lodz Ghetto, and the glimmers of hope which come from the determination of Syvia's family to remain together. Using her Aunt Syvia's narrative, Jennifer Roy brings the reader into the heart and mind of a little girl's nightmare which is her real life for six years. The writing evokes the everyday living horror of the Holocaust leaving the reader in tears and saying "never again."

I will admit to you right here and now that there is a kind of children's book I tend to avoid, if I can. The Holocaust children's book. I've read plenty of Uri Orlev in my time and I know my Anne Frank, but that doesn't mean I look forward to reading this kind of literature. So when the buzz began ah-hummin' around, "Yellow Star", I wasn't exactly primed to listen. First one librarian began to sing its praises. Then another. Then a whole chorus of on-pitch clever librarians in syncopated rhythm. I couldn't help but hear what they had to say. Apparently the book was so good that it sucked away about 20 minutes of discussion during a committee meeting in which we had seventy-some other books to talk about. Under such praise I had no choice but to locate myself a copy and read it myself. Normally when a book garners buzz of this nature, it has a very hard time living up to it. Jennifer Roy, however, should fear no such feeling. Her book has all the reality, depth, intelligence, and sheer compelling narrative to grab the attention of any child who is required or enticed to read this tale. Worth the hype, to say the least.

This is a true story. It was repeated to author Jennifer Roy by her aunt Sylvia, born Syvia Perlmutter. In 1945 the Lodz ghetto in Poland was liberated from the Germans. "Out of more than a quarter of a million people, only about 800 walked out of the ghetto. Of those who survived, only twelve were children. I was one of the twelve". Told in verse, the book charts Syvia's life between the ages of four and a half to ten. During that time we see the world through Syvia's eyes. Her family was, like most Jews, rounded up and put into the Lodz ghetto. An attempt to reach "safe" Warsaw never worked, and the family was forced to stay under grueling conditions. As the Nazis started to send off Jews to the concentration camps, including children, we watch as Syvia's father uses extraordinary persuasion and intelligence to hide, protect, and help the children around him. Filled with close calls, luck, and a stifling oppression, this is a gripping narrative that brings the true horror of the time into fast and frightening relief.

Some librarians of my acquaintance got into a high-spirited debate when they tried to figure out why this book was catalogued as fiction rather than as a non-fiction memoir. To my mind, Roy may have had to change some small elements of her tale to make it into a readable work. Since the story is told in first-person verse and is a biography rather than an autobiography, it technically falls into the world of fiction, even if every little word written in it is true.

Maybe it was the fact that this was a real story or maybe it was Roy's first-person narrative, but there is something about this book that feels more true than any other children's Holocaust novel I've ever encountered. Granted, I haven't read as many as I could, but Roy's voice in this book hits a vein of reality, shocking in its immediacy. In cases such as this, I like to point out that depressing books aren't my style. I was the kid in school who avoided, "The Bridge to Terebithia", like the plague since I knew it was renowned for being "sad". But while "Yellow Star" isn't exactly a laugh riot, but there are moments of levity to it. Rather than depressing, the book plays out like a thriller. Will Syvia be found? How can a small child escape or influence her own surroundings for the better? I don't want to label this book an action-novel, but when this puppy moves, it MOVES. And the sheer heroism coupled against pure unvarnished evil is written in such a way that kids everywhere will not only be able to read it but understand it on a truly immediate level. All this makes, "Yellow Star", one of the strongest children's books I've ever had the pleasure to read.

You hand this book to a kid. The kid glances at the cover, glances at the title, then tells you that they don't like books like this. When they say this to you, insist that they read it. Use the old, "It's a verse novel so it's a really quick read", excuse if you have to. Just do whatever you can to get this book into the child's hands. It's an amazing story and an even better read. Strength is in its bones.

Jennifer Roy has written an inspiring first person account of her Aunt Syvia who was one of the twelve surviving children in the ghetto in Lodz, Poland during WWII. The lyrical free verse of Yellow Star is immediate and powerful.

Roy's poetic description of the atrocities endured by Syvia and her family; and the courage, resilience and hope of that same family are amazing.

Yellow Star is a treasure for History and English teachers. Roy provides extensive and creative lesson plans that are available on her website, JenniferRoy.com.

Yellow Star is an unforgettable must read for children nine and up and adults.