Yellow Star

Jennifer Roy’s Yellow Star (2006) is a novel in verse that recounts the experiences of Syvia Perlmutter, Roy’s aunt, in the Lodz Ghetto, Poland, from February 1940 to January 1945. Delivered from a child-like perspective, this middle grade novel deals with the theme of Antisemitic Genocide and explores the immense hardships of life in the ghetto, while also detailing the courage and resilience of those detained. It received several awards, including the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award (2006), the Sydney Taylor Honor Award, the William Allen White Children's Book Award (2009), a New York Public L Book, an ALA Notable Book, and a National Jewish Book Honor Award.

This guide is written using the Amazon Encore 2012 e-book edition of Yellow Star.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss antisemitism, violence, starvation, and murder.

Plot Summary

Four-and-a-half-year-old Syvia Perlmutter plays with her dolls as she listens to her mother, father, and aunts discussing the increasing danger for Jewish people in Lodz. The family drives a buggy to Warsaw, hoping that this city will be more liberal, but they face similar antisemitism; they are unable to find accommodation or employment and return to Lodz.