Yellow Star
by Jennifer Roy
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jennifer RoyEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-04-15
ISBN: 076145277X
Number of pages: 242
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Book Reviews of Yellow Star
Book Review: Yellow Star - a powerfully poignant story
Summary: 5 Stars
Roy, J. (2006). Yellow star. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish.
According to Book Wizard on the scholastic.com website, the interest level is grades 6 - 8, the guided reading level is Y, and the Lexile measure is 710L. The grade level equivalent is 6.1.
"Yellow Star" is classified as historical fiction/poetry, and is a gripping 227 pages long. After over 50 years of keeping her memories bottled up, Sylvia Perlmutter let them flow as her niece, Jennifer Roy, recorded them. Sylvia, born Syvia, was a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, and she recounted with clarity her experiences of living in the Lodz ghetto of Poland during WWII. Jennifer Roy chose to write her aunt's story as a first-person narrative, using free verse to convey vignettes of the life of Syvia and her family.
"Yellow Star" begins in 1939, when Syvia was 4-1/2 years old. Her family lived in Lodz, Poland, and was forced by the Nazis to relocate in the ghetto section, where they were locked behind a barbed-wire fence along with over 250,000 Jewish people. Jennifer Roy introduces the sections with historical facts, ensuring the reader has important background knowledge as they continue through the story. The reader is presented with powerful images of life in the ghetto as seen through the eyes of the young Syvia. "Bright colors don't exist in the ghetto, except for the yellow stars and puddles of red blood that we carefully step around" (p. 21). "Yellow Star" is the story of a family's struggle to survive. Readers are told from the beginning that Syvia and her family were among the approximately 800 Jews left in the ghetto when they were liberated in 1945. Syvia was one of only 12 surviving children. Knowing the outcome does not spoil the suspense. "Yellow Star" entices the reader with thrilling scenarios. What is it like to spend the night in a hole in a graveyard? How will her dad outwit the soldiers? How will Syvia stay hidden next time? Will Nazi soldiers discover Syvia? In the end, how will Syvia feel about the yellow star that she had so desperately wanted to rip off her coat?
I found no negative aspects to this book. "Yellow Star" is well written and appropriate for the intended audience. I read "Yellow Star" cover to cover without putting it down. This is a compelling story full of innocence, anxiety, courage, strength, and resilience. The free verse is a beautiful way of tying together all the strands of Syvia's vivid memories. The juxtaposition of a child's innocence and her matter of fact description of cold, cramped living conditions, starvation, fear, and death, make this a powerfully poignant story. I highly recommend this book to readers 10 years old through adults. I also recommend "Yellow Star" as an excellent book for art teachers of the middle and high school levels. The story is filled with references to color and lack of color. A great companion book for a lesson incorporating the meaning of color, and using art to raise social awareness, would be "My Secret Camera: Life in the Lodz Ghetto." This book contains haunting photographs taken by Jewish artist/photographer, Mendel Grossman. Add "Yellow Star" to your must read list!
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