In 1939, the Germans invaded the town of Lodz, Poland, and moved the Jewish population into a small part of the city called a ghetto. As the war progressed, 270,000 people were forced to settle in the ghetto under impossible conditions. At the end of the war, there were about 800 survivors. Of those who survived, only twelve were children. This is the story of one of the twelve. "A stunning, poetic recreation of a life lived within the horror that was the Holocaust." - Jane Yolen, author of The Devil's Arithmetic and Briar Rose "In vivid free verse, Jennifer Roy tells a story of hope and courage as gripping as Schindler's List." - Eric A. Kimmel, author of Gershon's Monster, a Sydney Taylor Book Award winner "' "Beautifully told and unforgettable, Yellow Star reminds us that hope and innocence can shine through the darkest tragedy."-'- David Lubar, author of Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie and Dunk
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."
