thegirldevon's review
5.0
I read this book when it first came out in the late 90s. I was a child, and this story helped me understand the Holocaust and the very real human element that was behind all the atrocities that have been turned into statistics in our history books. I am now in my 30s and, throughout my life, this book has always stuck with me. I finally found it again (with help from a research librarian at The Library of Congress) and, though the story is meant for young readers, I found it to be just as heartbreaking and beautiful as I did back then. Right now, it’s December of 2022, and antisemitism is horrifyingly on the rise. It is more important than ever to remember what happens when we let hate dictate our actions and when we focus more on how different we are than on how similar we can be. This book does a beautiful job of reminding us about what is truly important- family, love, giving with no expectations in return, and the power of a story.
heyshay07's review
3.0
The Broken Mirror is a quick but powerful story about a Jewish boy growing up and enduring the horrors of the Holocaust. The words and writting are almost elementary school simple with no elaboration at all which drives me crazy. The content is more middle school because Moishe does end up losing everything and everyone, but the story ultimately has a happy ending which I liked. I also loved the tie in to the Hans Christian Anderson story. Not a bad supplementary story to a WWII unit, but there are better out there like The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas, the Boy Who Dared, or The Book Theif. However, for a fast book with an emotional punch, it's a good read.
lauren_endnotes's review
3.0
A novella written by the actor, Kirk Douglas. It is the story of a young German-Jewish boy during WWII. The story is told through the young man's eyes, as he tries to figure out who the Nazis are, his family's hiding, their concentration camp days, and his life afterwards. The book is told in two parts, after young Moishe decides he wants to hide his Jewish identity, he assumes the name Danny, and calls himself a gypsy. A sweet story about returning to love. The story is simple, and seems to be geared towards children/young teens, but adult readers will be able to enjoy the book just as much.
More...