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    Yellow Star
    Yellow Star
    Yellow Star
    Audiobook3 hours

    Yellow Star

    Written by Jennifer Roy

    Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    “In 1945 the war ended. The Germans surrendered, and the ghetto was liberated. Out of over a quarter of a million people, about 800 walked out of the ghetto. Of those who survived, only twelve were children. I was one of the twelve.” For more than fifty years after the war, Syvia, like many Holocaust survivors, did not talk about her experiences in the Lodz ghetto in Poland. She buried her past in order to move forward. But finally she decided it was time to share her story, and so she told it to her niece, who has re-told it here using free verse inspired by her aunt. This is the true story of Syvia Perlmutter—a story of courage, heartbreak, and finally survival despite the terrible circumstances in which she grew up. A timeline, historical notes, and an author’s note are included.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateDec 4, 2012
    ISBN9781469215860
    Yellow Star
    Author

    Jennifer Roy

    Jennifer Roy is the author of more than thirty books for children and young adults, including Israel: Discovering Cultures. A former teacher, she holds a BS in Psychology and an MA in Elementary Education. Yellow Star is based on the childhood of Jennifer’s aunt Sylvia, who provided extensive interviews as the author was writing this book. Jennifer lives in New York.

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    Reviews for Yellow Star

    4/5

    279 ratings28 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A must read for all. An important part of history to remember and never repeat
    • 5/5
      So sad, but so glad that Sylvia and her family were able to escape. This is a part of history that should never be forgotten.
    • 5/5
      Heartbreaking and uplifting all at once! Everyone should read this book because if we dont keep the memories alive, history will be repeated.
    • 5/5
      Well written from a child’s innocent perspective. Makes you wish you could save her from all of the hardships she endured.
    • 4/5
      Was a good story plenty for people to think about
    • 2/5
      Reading was much too melodramatic, got in the way of the story itself.
    • 5/5
      A book everyone should read to understand the inhumanity of man to one another. It's something that should not be forgotten as with the knowledge of WWII and the suffering of the world and how the Allies came together to defeat the Nazis and the Japanese.
    • 3/5
      Written in verse, this is a story of tragedy and hope as young Syvia and her family battle to stay alive in the ghetto at Lodz, Poland, during World War II. Very accessible and suitable for younger readers.
    • 4/5
      A true story narrated in the same format (a narrative broken into small poems) as Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust & Witness. I read it in two hours and it's absolutely perfect for my student population (7th/8th).

      It's the kind of story that needs very little, if any, background knowledge of the Holocaust/WWII but will leave the reader with a wealth of knowledge. It provides everything you need in the narrative and a few section introductions which are short nonfiction pieces included throughout. The narrator never sees a concentration camp--her whole experience is the five and a half years surviving the ghetto in Lodz, Poland, as a young child, her father cleverly avoiding all of the deportations for her family. This is the best of all of the holocaust books I've read so far that are full-length novel size, written for young audiences.

    • 3/5
      Only twelve children survived the Lodz ghetto at the end of WWII. This is the story of Sylvia, one of those children. This was an interesting, short read. I would loved it if the book had more details.
    • 4/5
      This book details the life of Syvia during WWII in Germany. Syvia's family was forced out of the Lodz Ghetto in 1939. In the beginning of the book, Syvia is only four years old, the story describes he life in the camps until she comes to America when she is ten years old. The book is written as if Syvia was telling the story.The book gives students a picture of what life was like during the Holocaust. Students will be able to sympathize with Syvia because they are closer to her age than if a adult was recounting the story.This book would be appropriate for students in grade 6th through 8th because of violence that would frighten younger students.
    • 5/5
      Even though this book is a picture book it would be a great book to introduce the Holocaust. Elementary children love to be read to and even as an adult I enjoyed this book. It raises questions about what the Nazi's were trying to accomplish and how people were feeling during this time. The author makes a great point to show how the King wanted to go against the power of the Nazi's. It is a story that I feel can interest all ages of children.
    • 5/5
      While I've read many books regarding the holocaust, this one shone above some others. It packed an emotional whallop. Like so many others who went through hell under the brutal terror of a crazy man named Adolf Hitler, the author's aunt was shy and hesitant to speak of the unspeakable.Convincing her that her story was unique and needed to be told, through many phone conversations, Jennifer Roy's Aunt Sylvia provided an in-depth account of the daily terror of living in the Polish ghetto of Lodz.Told from first-person verse Syvia, later changed her name to Sylvia, was 4 when she and 1/4 of a million Jews were herded like cattle to be enclosed, with no hope of escape, into a cramped section specifically marked for Jews. Trying desperately to make sense of it all, she learns much of what is happening through snippets of parents conversations. Then, gradually she watches as friends, families are packed into trains. As the years progress, Hitler's plan becomes more evident as increasingly children and older people are marked for extinction.She and her family survived by luck, intelligence and sheer fear and fortitude. Buried in dirt in a cemetery at night, she was inches away from the boots that could have/would have kicked her and killed her. Hidden in a cellar were eleven other children who miraculously survived.Interestingly, as Hitler was losing the war and the camp guards became fewer and fewer, overhead in the night time skies were sounds of planes bombing the area. As the group huddled together in an open area, it was the reflection of the mandated yellow stars that shone through, indicating that those in the area were Jews to be rescued.When Russian pilots rescued the group, there were only 800 people, of which twelve were children. Syvia was one of twelve who were not killed under Hitler's command. Now ten years old, for the first time in years, she had food, safety and a family who could move forward without fear.Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Viewpoint from a little girl who survived a Polish concentration camp during WWII. Short but powerful!
    • 4/5
      An incredible story of survival told by a young Jewish girl imprisoned in a Polish ghetto during World War II.
    • 4/5
      Characters: Syvia, (Isaac)Syvia’s father. Dora, Haya (mother), Itka, Rumkowski, Baby Isaac, Edit, Esther, Sura, Mina, and Uncle HaskelSetting: In the ghetto, in PolandTheme: Do whatever you can to survive. Genre: Biography non fiction. Summary: When World War II began, Syvia and her family were moved to the ghetto in Lods, Poland. Her family endured struggles, abuse, harassment, and terrible conditions created by the Nazis. The story follows how Isaac, moved the family from place to place to hide from the Nazis. When 800 Jews were liberated in 1945 and only 12 children survived, Syvia was one of them. Audience: Middle school students and high school students learning about the Holocaust and the life stories of survivors. Curriculum ties: language and historyPersonal response: I have always been interested in the Holocaust and the different stories that survivors have to tell. This story did a great job at the telling the story of Syvia and the struggles of the survival of her family. I especially enjoyed the biography written in verse. The way that the story was told made it seem like it was a poem. The different headings made the transition of the reading very easy. I don’t think I could ever imagine myself experiencing what Syvia’s family went through. All of the struggles, torment, hiding, starving, and trying to live were described in detail and showed the really ordeal of what was going on. In addition, I liked how the writing shows the point of view of Syvia. The young adult perspective showed what she was really thinking and feeling at the time. Her innocence really captured the ruthless experience that they were going through.
    • 5/5
      This isn't your typical book about the Holocaust, as it's appropriate for younger children. Written in verse through the perspective of a young girl, it's appropriate for readers of any age. Therefore, it's an excellent tool for introducing this subject to children. I think adult readers will find it poetic and thoughtful, as well.

      I highly recommend this book for book groups or for students. The Holocaust theme is painful for many people, but this book provides an opportunity to brooch the subject with poignancy and empathy rather than with fear.
    • 5/5
      Heartbreaking true story of Sylvia, a Jewish girl, during WWII- how she made it through, but most of her family did not.
    • 4/5
      A wonderful book written from a child's point of view, which makes it perfect for younger children who want to know more. Syvia is four years old and this is her story. The poetic writing made it quick and easy to read. It is Amazing that she was able to stay alive. She was one of only 12 children who survived in the Lodz ghetto. Her father was amazing and refused to give up on his famiy or let them be taken. The stories of how she was able to survive will make you appreciate everything you have in life.
    • 4/5
      Yellow Star was one of the books in which I felt I was fascinated that such a young child had to go through so much. It made me realize how lucky I was as a infant when I had the luxury of playing with toys and pretty dolls, where as kids around the world at that time were facing so many hardships. I didn't read all of the book, but I wish I did, I'm sure Jennifer Roy would have made me want to keep reading. From as much as I've read, I can say a good read.
    • 4/5
      I never thought poetry could be that exciting. It was a story written with poetic devices and is definitely worth reading.
    • 4/5
      The story is told in first person, which I didn’t mind at all because it’s different especially if it’s from a child’s point of view. It’s purely an innocent view on the Holocaust and it’s definitely an eye opener and very different from other novels told in an adult point of view on this subject.It’s a short novel, and the way it’s written makes the novel even shorter. It’s certainly a very quick read - although you won’t notice considering the heavy subject matter. Our main character, Syvia, encounters some very close calls to being discovered and deported. These moments fill the reader with dread, and also there are moments were they escape thanks to luck. It’s these kinds of opposite feelings which are all throughout the novel - and perhaps this is how Syvia felt while living through this time.I cannot think of any criticisms for this novel, this is perfect to introduce the subject of the Holocaust to middle school children. I greatly recommend this novel to children and to those interested in reading on this tragic subject. No matter how much you read on it, it’s still shocking to read.
    • 5/5
      This book succeeds at the tricky job of exposing the horrors of the Holocaust while staying appropriate for children. Due to the protagonist's youth and naivete, she's not fully aware of what's going on around her, but she and the reader will both sense the danger even if they don't know all that much about the children of the Lodz Ghetto. The protagonist's father is the real hero of the story, managing to keep the family together and save his daughter from certain death several times. I really enjoyed this book, and I think kids will too.
    • 5/5
      I was engrossed this very quick read about Syvia and her family during World War II. Based on the experiences of her aunt during the war, Jennifer Roy chose to share her aunt's story through a first person narrative written in verse. Syvia was four and a half when her family and all the other Jews in Lodz, Poland were moved to the ghetto. By the time liberation came the quarter million Jewish population of the city numbered at 800, with only 12 surviving children. A powerful story of war and suffering told through a child's eyes.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 2/5
      I really liked this book. It's a good book for younger (4th-8th grade) kids without the gruesome details that a lot of Holocaust books have in them. Very poetic writing, a joy to read although the topic is very tragic & sad.
    • 4/5
      I understand that the book was supposed to be written from the point of view of a 6 to10 year old girl; however, the child-like prose bothered me, and made the writing seem cliche. I would have much rather heard the story in the third person, from an older Sylvia looking back on events, or in an interview/dialogue format. That being said, the end of the story that recounts the deportation of the children, the time in the cellar, and their eventual liberation is facinating. Sylvia's father is a true hero.
    • 4/5
      I was asked to review children's stories for my local library, and this was the first provided. Fascinating true story of Polish girl in WW II concentration camps. The story is told in a rambling prose that is a wonderful voice for the child. This is a great book to share with children as a history lesson.