The Island on Bird Street

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book!!
Review: Highly recommended and little-known book of the war and Holocaust years told from a child's perspective. Left alone in the ghetto, a young boy struggles to survive, showing enormous courage, resilience and willpower. I also recommend the video if and when you can get a copy (some video stores have previewed copies on sale or Amazon's zhops and auctions occasionally have some) as it is an incredibly well-acted and moving story. The book and video do have some differences but would make a nice adition to any collection of Jewish literature and/or movies. I'd recommend the book for a teenage reader or for a Jewish reading group. Best for more mature readers able to handle difficult, complex topics.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I saw the movie "The Island on Bird Street" with my son and husband recently. It was such a touching film that we saw it again. I cried and will never forget the film. It should get an Academy award. After we saw the film, I ordered the book from Amazon because I wanted to know more about what happened to Alex. The first part of the book moves a little slow, but it needs to to describe all the characters and what is happening. The last half of the book is so moving I couldn't put the book down. I think it would be a great book for all kids to read in school when they are studying about WWII. But even without the historical backdrop, it is a powerful book showing how a young boy can overcome such awful odds and still survive. Alex struggles to survive by finding food in the ghetto with his pet mouse, Snow, and by making a hidden home in the ghetto. His lonliness is overcome by reading and meeting a few friends a long the way. He waits for months for his father to return not knowing if his father is alive or not. His faith that his father will come back for him sustains him. I think the book gives hope that we can overcome great adversity with faith and resourcefulness. I would definitely recommend the book and movie.

Rating:
Summary: Bird Street
Review: I saw the movie "The Island on Bird Street" with my son and husband recently. It was such a touching film that we saw it again. I cried and will never forget the film. It should get an Academy award. After we saw the film, I ordered the book from Amazon because I wanted to know more about what happened to Alex. The first part of the book moves a little slow, but it needs to to describe all the characters and what is happening. The last half of the book is so moving I couldn't put the book down. I think it would be a great book for all kids to read in school when they are studying about WWII. But even without the historical backdrop, it is a powerful book showing how a young boy can overcome such awful odds and still survive. Alex struggles to survive by finding food in the ghetto with his pet mouse, Snow, and by making a hidden home in the ghetto. His lonliness is overcome by reading and meeting a few friends a long the way. He waits for months for his father to return not knowing if his father is alive or not. His faith that his father will come back for him sustains him. I think the book gives hope that we can overcome great adversity with faith and resourcefulness. I would definitely recommend the book and movie.

Rating:
Summary: No boy is an island. Save one.
Review: It is the dearest wish of my heart that maybe, someday, I will be lucky enough to someday become a real honest-to-goodness children's book reviewer. To succeed in this goal, however, I feel that I must give myself a thorough background in children's books. As a result, I've found myself reviewing many books that, while considered "classics" are stories I would not be reading today if it weren't for their cultural cache. I'm saying all of this because I want you to understand fully why I did not want to read "The Island On Bird Street" at the outset. I'm the gal who as a child refused to read books that even traipsed lightly upon any and all serious subjects. No realistic situations for me, thank you very much. So it shouldn't surprise you the amount of resistance I felt towards reading Uri Orlev's classic Holocaust drama. But I'm 26 years old and if a 26 year old can't read a serious children's book, they probably have something seriously wrong with them. With that cheery thought in mind, I bit the bullet and plunged in. I was expecting a depressing treatise on the horrors of war and the depravity of Nazi Germany. And that's part of the book, no question. But what I didn't expect, and found (much to my delight) was a story that also read like a WWII Robinson Crusoe. It comes as a great relief.

As our Jewish hero, Alex and his family begin this tale as members of a Polish ghetto in an unnamed town during WWII. Actually, it's just Alex and his father at this point. His mother disappeared not long ago and is suspected to have been taken away by the occupying German forces. When it becomes clear to Alex's father that his son will probably need to survive on his own someday (a day that comes sooner than either of them think) he teaches the boy how to keep and shoot a gun. Not long after, Alex's father is taken away by the Germans as well, but with the promise that he will be back to find Alex soon. What follows is a tale that tracks the boy in an abandoned ghost town of a ghetto. On his own, he must find food and shelter while remaining hidden from the ever present Nazi threat. Too soon Alex finds that in this hostile environment, he can only really trust himself and his white mouse, Snow. Using ingenuity that astounds, Alex carves out an existence for himself that not only defies everything the Nazis stand for but that speaks to the heart of anyone who has ever waited for a loved one to return. By the end of this book Alex is no Jewish boy. He is a Jewish man.

If you were to ask me what book "The Island on Bird Street" most resembles, I would have to say without a doubt that it is mighty similar to Gary Paulsen's, "Hatchet". In both cases, young men must survive hunger and hostile surroundings by using their brains. In a way though, "Bird Street" is less harrowing than "Hatchet". Alex may not be particularly safe, but he is oddly confident of his own abilities at all times. This is a kid cut out for survival. His cool confident handling of his situation may strike some as a little false. Even when his mother disappears, Alex treats her vanishing with little real woe (at least none that he displays for the reader). This may have more to do with Orlev's writing style than any particular flaw in the plot though. After all, it isn't as if Alex is a particularly emotional fellow. True, he bursts into tears once in a while (justifiably) and falls in love with a girl across the ghetto wall, but he does not allow himself to think too much on painful things. They might weigh him down and make him incapable of rational thinking and planning. As a result, when Alex thinks it is in a methodical and intelligent manner. Just not ooey-gooey.

Getting back to the "Hatchet" similarities, my favorite parts of this book were those sections that described how Alex constructed a safe home for himself on the third floor of a bombed out old building. I loved the Robinson Crusoeish aspects of the story. Reading through this book, you really feel a kid like Alex could survive in an environment such as this in real life. He's a realistic character acting in ways that are consistent with his age. When Alex starts ice skating and playing football on the other side of the ghetto wall, you completely understand why (even if you're cringing at the thought of him risking his neck like that). I should note that there are some sections that speak laudably of the state of Israel. This is also realistic within the context of the story, but it's hard to make an idyllic picture of Israel when thinking of the oh-so similar violence wracking it today. To my mind, Orlev would have done very well to completely avoid all mention of the topic. It jars anyone with even the tiniest political knowledge out of the story.

Author Uri Orlev was himself a Jewish person living in the Warsaw ghetto before the second world war. A survivor of Bergen-Bergen, it would be a supreme understatement to point out that the man knows of which he speaks. I was especially grateful to him for including an Introduction to this story that explains not only the horrors of the time period but also exactly what Jewish ghettos were. This isn't taught in school all that often and it makes the text far easier to understand. Orlev has written a masterful and heartfelt story of human struggle and survival. Consider pairing this book with the aforementioned "Hatchet" or (if you prefer similar time periods and protagonists) "The Diary of Anne Frank" and Lois Lowry's, "Number the Stars". I was reluctant to pick up "The Island On Bird Street" to begin with. But if kids follow my hesitant example and read a chapter or two into it, they may find themselves surprisingly interested in the adventures of a boy living all on his own. It's an ultimate adventure story and one you won't easily forget.


Rating:
Summary: A Great Book!!
Review: The Island on Bird Street is set during World War 2/the Holocaust, in a ghetto in Warsaw Poland; the main character is an eleven year old Jewish boy, named Alex. At the beginning of the story, he escapes from being transported to a concentration camp with his father; he must try to survive in his previous house until his father returns.
I had to read this book for my Reading class at school: we had to choose between a couple of WW2 books, & I chose this one. Even though this opinion might not be attracting, this is a really good book. I hghly recommend this book: its very interesting to read about how Alex survived. Its hard to put it down, its so exciting and suspenseful!!!

Rating:
Summary: Awesome book, especially good for those who like war books.
Review: This epic Jewish war tale is good enough to be passed down through generations of Jews and any other religion alike. It takes place in Warsaw, Poland in a ghetto which is a small place where many people are trapped within barbed wire and doomed to be isolated. The main character is a boy named Alex whose mother has disappeared (and is assumed dead) and father has been arrested by the Nazis. Left all alone, with the only reason to keep on living his girlfriend and the slim hope that his father will return alive, Alex hides in the ruins of his abandoned house. The Nazis are hunting Jews down like game and scanning the houses for them, but Alex is still brave enough to venture out to the Polish side. This book is very exciting, emotional, and shows how brave people can be. There were points of high tension, but the story was also about how people depend on one another. It shows the dimensions of fear and love alike. -- The Newton Boys Reading Circle (Danny, David and Ben)

Rating:
Summary: An Informative Book
Review: This is an interesting book that really brings you into the mind of a Jewish child living during the Holocaust. It tells the story of an 11 year old boy named Alex who lives with his father in the Warsaw Ghetto.
One horrible day, Alex's father leaves and Alex is forced to live in a bombed out house on 78 Bird Street. There he must learn how to survive in the always threatening conditions. Until his father returns, Alex must always be on alert. The main character's bravery and courage is inspiring to all who read this book. At times it could be a bit dull, but over all this book was wonderful. Anyone who loves to sit down with a good book should read The Island on Bird Street.