fatimamahate's review against another edition
5.0
This book is the best book ever. I read it in 3 hours. Which is something I never do. It's so sad and it is one of the few books that has stayed with me emotionally for a long time and I'm sure will still have a big imapct on me now as it did then.
2015 edit: everytime I come back to this book I always have something new to say. In fact, this review has changed so many times over the years I've decided just to add it as an edit. Everytime I come back to the Goodreads page of this book, I instantly feel like there is something that I should've said when I first wrote the review but didn't realise. It says a lot about this book and can honestly say that I have never ever felt so strongly about a book in my entire life. If you get the chance, please read this book. It might just change you.
It's so good
2019 edit:4 years later from my last edit and I still think about this book. It was one of the first books where I really got to grip with and understood the impact of the second world war on people and mostly children. I don't ever read books in a day and even more so now since I just font find the time, but this book is one that I have to go back. Its emotional and raw and an important book to read. please read this book. The emotions I felt were like a roller coaster and as a child just beginning to learn about history, this book is important to me
2015 edit: everytime I come back to this book I always have something new to say. In fact, this review has changed so many times over the years I've decided just to add it as an edit. Everytime I come back to the Goodreads page of this book, I instantly feel like there is something that I should've said when I first wrote the review but didn't realise. It says a lot about this book and can honestly say that I have never ever felt so strongly about a book in my entire life. If you get the chance, please read this book. It might just change you.
It's so good
2019 edit:4 years later from my last edit and I still think about this book. It was one of the first books where I really got to grip with and understood the impact of the second world war on people and mostly children. I don't ever read books in a day and even more so now since I just font find the time, but this book is one that I have to go back. Its emotional and raw and an important book to read. please read this book. The emotions I felt were like a roller coaster and as a child just beginning to learn about history, this book is important to me
lorathelibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
This book hit me hard. In a way similar to The Book Thief. It is written in verse, so it goes very fast. The fact that it is based on a real person makes the book even more powerful.
The story is about a young girl (she's 6 at the beginning of the book) who survived the Lodz ghetto during WWII in Poland. Only 12 children survived the Lodz ghetto and Syvia, was one of them.
The story was told so well, with the innocence of a child. I just couldn't put it down and as she finally leaves the ghetto I couldn't help but clap my hands and feel my heart swell with her survival.
The story is about a young girl (she's 6 at the beginning of the book) who survived the Lodz ghetto during WWII in Poland. Only 12 children survived the Lodz ghetto and Syvia, was one of them.
The story was told so well, with the innocence of a child. I just couldn't put it down and as she finally leaves the ghetto I couldn't help but clap my hands and feel my heart swell with her survival.
bak8382's review against another edition
4.0
In 1939 270,000 Jews enter the Lodz ghetto, when the ghetto was liberated in 1945 only 800 had survived. Among those only 12 were children, Sylvia was one of those children. What happened in between is the courageous true story of how Sylvia and her family survived. The story is told in first person, and is based on interviews the author, Sylvia's niece, conducted with her.
The narrator's voice perfectly captures Sylvia's voice as she grows up in the ghetto. This is one of the few stories of the Holocaust I've read with a relatively happy ending, but it still reduced me to tears.
The narrator's voice perfectly captures Sylvia's voice as she grows up in the ghetto. This is one of the few stories of the Holocaust I've read with a relatively happy ending, but it still reduced me to tears.
hldillon's review against another edition
5.0
Syvie and her family are Jews. They are sent to the Lodz ghetto to live because they are not fit to be in regular society. Syvie soon learns the struggles of the Holocaust when her friends go missing and she constantly has to stay quiet. Her and her family do what they can to survive and make it through and live to the next day.
erinmk's review against another edition
5.0
This is the first book I have read in prose, and it is wonderful! I listened to it on audible, which I highly recommend. This book would be a perfect introduction to WWII in Poland for older children that are capable of understanding some of what happened. Seeing it all through the eyes of a child is unforgettable. The author does a fantastic job of giving details without getting too graphic (which is why I think it would be appropriated by older kids...probably 6th grade and up).
karissakate's review against another edition
3.0
The style of writing took me awhile to get used to but I did really enjoy this book. I think the author did a fairly decent job of capturing the point of view of little Syvia.
a_manning11's review against another edition
5.0
This book combines free verse and short historical summaries to tell the story of Syvia Perlmutter, who is almost five when she has to move to the Lodz Ghetto in Poland with her family in 1939. During World War II, the Nazis forced 270,000 Jews to live in the Ghetto, at the end of the war, only 800, amongst them 12 children had survived.
The book tells the history clearly, and makes it understandable through a child's eyes. However, the story seems rather harsh for children. The facts of what happened in this ghetto are overwhelming.
The book tells the history clearly, and makes it understandable through a child's eyes. However, the story seems rather harsh for children. The facts of what happened in this ghetto are overwhelming.