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McDonough, Yona Zeldis Zeldis ListingsIf you cannot find what you want on this page, then please use our search feature to search all our listings. Click on Title to view full description
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THE DOLL WITH THE YELLOW STAR
McDonough, Yona Zeldis Zeldis
2005 42014 From the Publisher A tender story about the power of love in the face of loss Nine-year-old Claudine doesn't want to leave her much-loved home in France to go live in America, not without her parents. But she knows about the shortages, about the yellow stars Jews must wear, and about Adolf Hitler. And she knows that there are some things she needs to do even when she doesn't want to. It's wartime, and there is much that is different now. There are more things that Claudine will lose to this terrible war. But not everything that is lost must be lost forever. Here is a moving story about lost and found lives, and the healing power of love. From The Critics Publishers Weekly This solemnly straightforward chapter book follows Claudine, a Jewish French girl, and her beloved doll Violette as her world is turned upside down twice: first when the Nazis occupy France, and then again when the eight-year-old must leave Papa and Maman behind in Paris to seek safety with relatives in America. McDonough (Anne Frank) depicts Violette as both a witness to and an embodiment of Claudine's tumultuous experience. The doll, the girl's prized possession, becomes a symbol of Claudine's carefree, pre-war life, and then a steadfast companion as the noose tightens around the Jewish community-and, finally, both a casualty of war and its miraculous survivor. While the prose slips into woodenness at times, the events keep the pages turning, and McDonough's emotional acuity always shines through. The author is at her best in the chapters set in America (in one heart-wrenching passage, the girl asks her Aunt Adele whether she must continue to wear the yellow star), and the life she and her father slowly rebuild after the war without Maman, who was murdered by the Nazis. Although the illustrator seems more at ease in portraying Claudine as fragile rather than the girl of quiet but enormous resilience portrayed in the story, Root's spot art and full-page illustrations convey a simple poignancy. Ages 7-12. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. Children's Literature - Carolyn Mott Ford How quickly life can change. Claudine celebrates her eight birthday with Maman and Papa in their apartment in France. The war has already wrought changes but they are still together, they have food to eat and Maman and Papa even manage to give Claudine a beautiful doll. The doll is named Violette and as the threats of Hitler and the Nazis grow stronger, the doll is Claudine's comfort, especially when her friends desert her. For Claudine and her parents must wear the yellow star proclaiming that they are Jewish. Claudine sews a little yellow star on the inside of Violette's cape. When Claudine's parents send her to the United States where she will be safe, Violette is lost when there is a shipboard fire. The story ends on a hopeful note and does not overwhelm the young reader with scenes of brutality, but the inhuman treatment of one group toward another, and the power and ruthlessness of Hitler and his followers, is evident in the struggles and heartache a young girl and her family endure. Ages 7 to 10. Holt, Henry Books for Young Readers 0-8050-6337-4 / 9780805063370
Hardcover Brand New Condition New York
Price:
21.00 USD
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