"“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."
"In 1939 the Nazis invade Lodz, Poland, forcing four-year-old Syvia Perlmutter and 270,000 other Jews into a ghetto surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by armed men. Scared and confused, Syvia and the others have no idea how terrible their lives will soon be. When the Nazis start removing children 'to keep them safe,' Syvia's father does not believe them. He does everything he can to protect Syvia, even hiding her in a graveyard. For years the family barely survives, until Russian soldiers liberate the ghetto in 1945 and free the remaining 800 survivors. Among the 800 are Syvia and only 11 other children. A Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards honor book, Yellow Star is a novelization in free verse of the true experiences of the author's aunt. It received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, VOYA, and School Library Journal, which proclaimed it a 'standout in the genre of Holocaust literature.' '. 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.'-Publishers Weekly, starred review"
