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There are currently 32 member reviews
for The Yellow Bird Sings
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Mary Anne R. (Towson, MD)
The Yellow Bird
The yellow bird sings a song of hope,encouragement, and comfort in Jennifer Rosner's novel. The characters display the good,evil and mixed actions during WW2. The little girl,Zosia,strength and development is beautifully described as is the pain and courage of her mother.
I loved the musicality of the novel, The author's words through the story are like a concert with somber and sad chords and others joyful and hopeful. Her words are often poetical and lyrical.
I think this is a good book for a book club.People might discuss which characters are most inspiring or the least. They might also discuss how the complexity of non-central .characters develop the main characters.
Parts of the story are difficult to absorb but the faith and courage of Rosa and Zosia are inspiring. This is a beautiful book.
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Jean B. (Naples, FL)
The Yellow Bird Sings
The Yellow Bird Sings is simultaneously heart breaking and hopeful A mother and her child survive the horrors of being Jewish during World War II. The child comforts herself with the imagined yellow bird as she and her mother hide and experience unimaginable horrors. The author puts her readers into this time and place. It will always be important to be reminded of the terrible penalty paid by citizens when a single mad man hypnotizes a nation. Jennifer Rosner is the most recent author to do so and she does it beautifully.
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Sally D. (Jacksonville, FL)
Absorbing story
The Yellow Bird Sings is a surprising novel. Although the story revolves around a horrific time in history, it mainly centers on the beautiful relationship between a mother and her daughter. The story captivated me. Through difficult situations, separation and heartbreak, it remained sweet, hopeful and powerful.
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Diane S. (Batavia, IL)
The yellow bird sings
A simply told tale about a dark time in history. The Holocaust, a horrendous happening that cost millions of innocent people their lives. Can a story written during this time, about this event be both brutal and tender? Both horrific and lovely. In this, her debut novel, I feel Rosner did just that. A Jewish mother, Rosa, her young daughter, Shira forced to hide in a farmers barn, share a profound love of music. It is their background, and it and their love of stories are the way they communicate when silence means safety. Terror and quiet against their love for each other, the music balancing the two. It is the music, the beauty of the songs that both will lean on in the times to come. A time of sacrifice and discovery.
I remember the book, book:She Rides Shotgun|23361199 because of a little bear, that personal item inserted and the role it played, for me, made the book unforgettable. In this book it will be a small yellow bird, a bird of friendship and love. A bird that signifies the freedom they no longer have. It will be the beauty of the music, and a mother, daughter love that can not be broken.
Ultimately I felt both devastated and hopeful reading this, as if there was something the Nazis could not steal, destroy. Hard to do, and the author uses the magic and power of storytelling, within and without, to do the near impossible. Melancholy, bittersweet, hopeful and sad, all emotions I felt while reading.
I look forward to Rosner's next fictional rendering.
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Tracey S. (Largo, FL)
A great read!
I couldn't put this book down! This was a very moving story about Roza and her daughter Shira hiding in a barn to escape capture by the Germans. It is a story of survival and a mother's love for her daughter that is so strong she will send her daughter away to have a better life. While they are separated they both try to survive without the other. I so wanted the story to keep going!
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Marion C. (Peabody, MA)
The Yellow Bird Sings
The magnificent novel The Yellow Bird Sings tells the story of a Jewish mother with her five-year-old daughter in exile in June 1941 Poland. Her mother tells her daughter of a yellow bird that sings. If the yellow bird goes silent, she must be quiet. No noise, not even tapping her arm to the beat of music. When the mother hears the same piece she played with the Polish Orchestra, she realizes her daughter is a prodigy. The yellow bird offers the young girl much comfort until one day it disappears. The violin masters recognize the young girl's talent giving her violin lessons. Years later, the girl guest solos with the New York Philharmonic, and the yellow bird returns. The girl feels her mother's presence in the audience. The mother recognizes the piece her daughter composed years ago. Then she hears the yellow bird sing. This is a love story that transcends diversity. Exquisite writing allows the novel to progress quickly. The Yellow Bird Sings is an enjoyable read.
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Sandra H. (St. Cloud, MN)
Do No Forget
I remember a young Polish refugee who would babysit for me and my sister and brother. One time she told us how she had escaped from a rail car in Eastern Europe that was destined for a Nazi death camp. I also recall my mother collecting clothes and shoes to send to Europe for refugees. Add to that the novels such as Rosner's that I have read set during WWII and they have informed my picture of WWII refugees.
Rosner effectively takes us into that world through the life of a young mother, and her daughter Shira during their precarious life in Nazi-occupied Poland. The vivid descriptions of their experiences help us to see and feel the dangers they face which can quickly end in death or incarceration that was designed to punish those part of the Nazi regime.
"The Yellow Bird Sings" reminds us how dangerous it was for those in Europe during that time. I strongly recommend this novel!
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