Source: Personal library
Rating: ★★★★☆
“No, as far as the Nazis know,
there are eight hundred adults
and no children
left in the Lodz ghetto.”
Well, then, aren’t we clever,
I think as I drift off.
We know more than the Nazis do.
(from Yellow Star, page 143)
Yellow Star is the story of Holocaust survivor Sylvia (Syvia) Perlmutter, as told to her niece, Jennifer Roy. Roy presents her aunt’s story in verse — which reminded me of T4 by Ann Clare LeZotte — intended for middle-grade readers. Syvia was four-and-a-half when World War II broke out, and she was one of just 12 children to survive the Łódź ghetto. When the ghetto was liberated by the Soviets in January 1945, only 877 of the more than 200,000 Jews sent there were still alive.
Based on taped conversations with Syvia, Yellow Star is written in the first person, so young readers see the horrors of the ghetto through the eyes of a child with whom they can relate. Because she is too young to work, Syvia is alone while her parents and older sister are working. When children under 10 are deported to the Chełmno extermination camp, Syvia must stay hidden indoors and remain quiet at all times. Even though I knew she survived because she was telling her story, my heart still beat rapidly as I read about how she and her father hid as the Nazis went from room to room, taking children away from their families and sending them to their deaths.
Roy does a great job contrasting Syvia’s innocence with the evil perpetrated by the Nazis. The family is hungry and cold, her beloved doll was sold and its carriage burned to keep warm, and Syvia occupies herself with clever games. Even in the midst of all the hardship, there are heartwarming, hopeful moments, particularly in the way that Syvia’s family emphasized her value when the Nazis did their best to make her feel worthless.
A family’s fierce love and will to survive are at the core of Yellow Star. I never grow tired of these amazing stories of courage and survival during the Holocaust. Roy shows how Syvia’s family kept their wits about them through the chaos, evading deportation time and again and staying alive when so many others perished. I read this book in a single afternoon, but I remain haunted by Syvia’s story weeks later. Yellow Star is a good introduction to the Holocaust for younger readers, but there is much in the poetic prose for adults to appreciate as well.
Disclosure: Yellow Star is from my personal library.
© 2012 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
Dunno about the poetic prose, did I like that when I was younger? Hm. Still as an adult I am sure it would work
You’d definitely have to read this with the intended audience in mind.
I like reading history of this kind but it makes me feel also so overwhelmingly sad.
This is a sad story, but there is much hope in it, too.
Thanks for this review. It reminds me that I have a copy of this from the publisher, but haven’t read it yet. It does sound similar to T4. I am glad you liked it.
Looking forward to your thoughts!
Sounds like a good book!
Yes, indeed!
!! Sounds amazing.
Yes, definitely!
I love novels in verse. This one sounds awesome!
I think you should give this one a try!
Yellow Star does sound like a haunting story.
Yes, haunting but hopeful, too.
I agree with Diana.
Thanks for stopping by, Ella!
I agree with you how these stories haunt you after reading them. This one sounds like an amazing book.
I hope you have a copy in the school library!
You know I love stories in verse, so this would likely work for me.
Well, you can borrow it at any time. It’s a quick read.
Wonderful review as usual, Anna. This sounds like a very touching book.
Thanks, Suko!
Wow, this sounds amazing. Holocaust books fascinate me. It was such a horrible time in history and haunting is such a good way to describe many of the accounts.
I find them fascinating, too, and I learn so much every time I read one.
This one sounds harrowing but good. I’m a total holocaust wimp but might give this a try – and see if either of my kids might be interested. Thanks for the review – I hadn’t heard of this one.
This book is definitely lighter in terms of Holocaust history, so maybe you’ll give it a try.
I’m not sure I’d like it told in verse but I think the first person narrative is so powerful.
I think that because it’s a children’s book, telling it in verse works. It definitely makes it easier for younger readers to grasp some of the enormity of the Holocaust.
[…] of Dr. William Beaumont)55. Susan @ Reading World (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde)56. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (Yellow Star)57. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (My Berlin Kitchen)58. Nova @ My Seryniti (The Blood […]
[…] and of course, we were fascinated by her story. I’m also a fan of Roy’s since reading Yellow Star, her Aunt Sylvia’s Holocaust survival story, and meeting both Roy and her aunt at a book […]