Module 3 - Verse Novel

Photo Source:  Jennifer Roy's Website. 2011. http://www.jenniferroy.com/ (accessed February 22, 2011).

Summary: Yellow Star is a verse novel told in the narrative voice of a young child, Syvia Perlmutter. This is a historical fiction verse novel. Syvia Perlmutter was the author’s aunt. She was 4 ½ years old when World War II started and was one day short of her 10th birthday when it ended. All that happened to her and her family in between is written in this amazing 227 page novel. This novel has most of what all verse novels usually have: linear format, narrative style, realistic and candid, intense situations, emotional connections, informal/colloquial language, told from the first person’s point of view, and a strong sense of voice (Vardell). The only thing not typical about this verse novel is that it does not have multiple narrators. In addition to all of these things that make this a great verse novel, it contains some excellent stand alone poems. Here is just an example of one such poem and it is my favorite in the book:

The Pear

What if the Germans come into the yard?

What if the are looking out the window

of one of the buildings?

What if someone sees me?

I am drawn to the tree

like a bee to honey.

Closer.

Closer.

I can touch the tree branches now.

I reach up and grasp the pear.

Its skin is yellow green,

ripe.

I twist it a bit, and the pear

pops off its branch

into my hand.

It is solid, smooth,

real.

There is no stopping now.

At this moment there are no Germans,

no worries.

There is only me and this pear.

I take a bite.

Cool, juicy, sweet.

Perfect.

Delicious!

I eat some more.

My hand gets a little sticky,

but I don’t care.

I am out in the sunshine

eating a pear,

just like any normal girl

who isn’t Jewish in Poland

on a regular day.

Suddenly I realize where I am,

what I am doing.

I had better get inside.

I am about to run back,

when I spot another pear on the tree,

a little smaller than my pear,

a little greener.

I think of Dora, and I grab it,

then turn and run

back to the building

with a pear in each hand.

Through the door,

down the hallway,

down the stairs,

into the cellar.

(Yellow Star, p. 168-170)

Quality: When examining this book against F. S. Goforth’s Selection and Evaluation Criteria, I find it to be of very good quality even though some of the evaluation criteria does not apply. One of the main items that makes this book such a good quality verse novel is the sensory images within the writing. For example, this portion of a poem that describes an event when the Germans came to move the Jews out of the ghetto and into the trains that would take the Jews to the concentration camps:

We start walking.

Papa and Mother.

Dora and me between them.

One family

among hundreds

being swept along with the tide,

sea of innocents simply

following orders

as dawn breaks

and the sun begins to rise.

(Yellow Star, a portion of “It is Time”, pg. 111-113).

There are many other examples like this throughout the book. As I read, I peppered the pages with my notes of “sense of surprise”, “powerful and thought provoking”, “imagery”, and “good, descriptive”. While there is no rhyming to these poems, there is a natural cadence to the writing. In some parts of the book, I found myself reading it as if it were any other novel. At other points in the book, I found myself pausing and reading the lines as if they could be stand alone poetry. Ms. Roy uses the language of Syvia in a way that gives the reader a real sense of what it was like, physically and emotionally, to be a Jew in Poland during World War II.

Appeal: This book will be very appealing to older elementary students and middle school students who are just beginning to understand the issues surrounding World War II and the plight of the Jewish people. Because it is told from a child’s perspective, it is likely to retain their attention much more than a typical non-fiction book on the subject would. Although the topic of war and genocide is, thankfully, not something today’s American children will be familiar with, the topic will be interesting to them. In addition to the tragedy of war, this novel is about the love and closeness Syvia has with her father, mother and sister. Many children will have familiar experiences and feelings as it relates to parents and siblings. The age group reading this novel will likely have only limited knowledge of the atrocities of the German army, therefore this novel will expand their knowledge base and enlighten children in ways that other books might not. Overall, this book rates high on the appeal scale!

Use: This book is one that should be read aloud to children by an adult who can really give strong voice to the reading. I would not recommend that it be read by students in the class because much of the voice of Syvia would be lost in the ever changing sound of different children’s voices. It would be best if read in conjunction with a unit on World War II. This book could be paired well with a lesson on Google Earth where the students could do searches on the places mentioned in the book. It would also work well with other research projects related to the Holocaust or World War II.

References:

Goforth, F.S. 1998. Literature and the Learner. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Roy, Jennifer. 2006. Yellow Star. New York: Marshall Cavindish.

Vardell, Sylvia. 2011. “Verse Novels for Young Adults”. Lecture Notes for Texas Woman’s University, LS 5663 Poetry.