Summary
This is a biographical historical
novel: made from a young girl's notebook where her friends wrote
precious memories in notes of goodbye. Jutta is the author's mother
and the year is 1938. Laws in Germany were becoming more and more
difficult to live under. Jutta's father could see the danger in the
future, so Jutta and her family were the lucky ones to be leaving to
America. Some of her friends managed to leave too, but others were
not so lucky. This is the story of a young girl with a little
notebook full of goodbyes from friends who would later either survive
or perish under the atrocities commited by the Nazi Regime.
Impressions
War stories always make me sad and this
book was no different. But this book is not some dry text filled
with nameless people and events. This is a personal book of people
were were once very young and once unaware of what terrible
experiences they will be forced to endure. This is a great book
because it is told by the people who experienced the times.
Use in the library
I would use this book in collaboration
with the social studies teachers who are teaching World War II.
This book contains many poems and
reflections of the girls that I think might interest students in
writing poetry themselves, so this book can also be used in an
English class as well.
Reviews
From Booklist
"Holocaust titles appear every season, prompting some to overlook the genre, but the best always approach the topic from a fresh perspective, making them worthy purchases. Levy shares excerpts from her mother Jutta Salzberg’s 1938 poetry album, in which friends and family express good wishes in poems and drawings. She includes reproductions of original pages, English translations, and free verse musings that reflect 11-year-old Jutta’s voice and feelings as she watches Jewish friends disappear from Hamburg while her own family waits for U.S. visas. Levy also includes a few entries from Jutta’s diary and oblaten (sticker) images from the original. Although entries are short, distinct characters and a strong sense of narrative emerge. Levy ends with the Salzbergs’ November 1938 arrival in New York; an afterword provides family and Holocaust background and traces what happened to the people introduced. Similar in scope to Karen Ackerman’s The Night Crossing (1994), this makes a good introduction to Holocaust literature, especially for those who aren’t quite ready for scenes of death camps." Reviewed by Kay Weisman
From Kirkus Reviews
"Writing for modern readers about the Holocaust is fraught, and when children are the intended audience, the difficulties can be insurmountable. Levy meets the challenges admirably, partly because she had access to unique primary sources: Her mother's autograph book, a poesiealbum, written by friends and family in Hamburg in 1938 and a diary from that same year, when she was 12, form a poignant and chilling basis for the true story of her family's experiences. Each chapter is a translation of an album or diary entry followed by a poem that evokes sadness, despair, anger and longing to escape. The author's introduction and afterword are integral to the work, as they explain some of the history and tell the fates of friends and family members—those who escaped and survived, those who "died at the hands of the Nazis" and those whose exact fate she was unable to discern. While writing as truthfully as the subject demands, she also spares young readers the gruesome details of those deaths. An immensely powerful experience that needs to be read with an adult." 2010, Disney Hyperion, 144p, $16.99. Category: Poetry/nonfiction. Ages 10 up. Starred Review. © 2010 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.
Resources
Levy, D. (2010). The year of
goodbyes. New York, NY: Disney Hyperion Books.
[Review of the book The year of
goodbyes by D. Levy]. (2010, February 15). Kirkus Reviews. 78(4).
Retrieved from
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Weisman, K. (2010, February 15).
[Review of the book The year of goodbyes D. Levy]. Booklist,
106(12). Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment