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Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story
 
 
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Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story [Paperback]

Lila Perl (Author), Marion Blumenthal Lazan (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)

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Book Description

8 and up3 and upAn Avon Camelot Book

If she could find four perfect pebbles of almost exactly the same size and shape, it meant that her family would remain whole. Mama and papa and she and Albert would survive Bergen-Belsen. The four of them might even survive the Nazis' attempt to destroy every last Jew in Europe.

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Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story + Survivors: True Stories of Children in the Holocaust + I Have Lived A Thousand Years: Growing Up In The Holocaust
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Amid a growing number of memoirs about the Holocaust, this book warrants attention both for the uncommon experiences it records and for the fullness of that record. Marion Blumenthal was not quite five years old in 1939 when her family fled Germany for Holland, ending up in the relative safety of Westerbork, then a refugee camp run by the Dutch government. They had visas for the U.S. and tickets for an ocean crossing, but during a fatal three-month postponement of their sailing, the Germans invaded Holland. By 1944 the Blumenthals arranged to be part of a group bound for Palestine in exchange for the release of German POWs; the family was instead sent to Bergen Belsen, where they remained, together, in the so-called Family Camp. Marion, her brother and parents survived the war, but her father died of typhus several months after liberation. Written in the third person, the book lacks the searing intensity of such memoirs as Ruth Sender's The Cage or Isabella Leitner's The Big Lie, also for this age group, but it is unusually complete, not only in its skillful presentation of the historical context but in its treatment of the Blumenthals' horrifying journey. Quotes from Lazan's 87-year-old mother are invaluable-her memories of the family's experiences afford Marion's story a precision and wholeness rarely available to child survivors. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10?A harrowing and often moving account of the co-author's family's struggle to survive the Holocaust. Opening in Bergen-Belsen, the story retraces the events leading up to the Blumenthals' imprisonment there. After Marion's grandparents died, she, her brother, and parents left Germany for Holland to wait for a visa that would allow them to come to the U.S. Their papers came, but sailing was delayed and Hitler invaded Holland. The Blumenthals then applied to join a group that was to be sent to Israel in exchange for German POWs. Soon after arriving in Bergen-Belsen, however, they realized that they would not be exchanged. They survived the camp and their family remained intact. Ironically, Mr. Blumenthal died of typhus shortly after liberation. After three years as displaced persons, Marion and her mother and brother finally arrived in the U.S., where there were new adjustments to be faced. The story is told only partly from Marion's point of view. More often, it is told by an omniscient narrator. This tends to remove readers somewhat from the emotional impact of the story. Chilling facts and statistics, such as a description of the poison gas "showers," read like a textbook rather than a memoir. The information is solid and well presented, however, and through its personal-narrative format the book should reach readers who might not be willing to read such titles as Milton Meltzer's Never to Forget (HarperCollins, 1976).?Louise L. Sherman, Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  • Paperback: 144 pages
  • Publisher: Greenwillow Books (November 3, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0380731886
  • ISBN-13: 978-0380731886
  • Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,126 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lila Perl was born in Brooklyn and read voraciously as a child, but never dreamed that she would become the author of more than 60 books published by mainstream publishers including Dutton, Houghton Mifflin, HarperCollins, and Scholastic. Her subjects for adults, young adults, and children range from mummies, ancient Egyptians, and the ancient Maya, to the Holocaust, genocide, cloning, and world terrorism; from the foods and everyday lives of colonial and pioneer Americans to personal ancestor-hunting.

Lila Perl was listed in 2001 among "The Pride of Brooklyn College" by her alma mater, and has received a "Best Books for the Teenage" award from the New York Public Library. Her book on junk food, fast food, and health food won a Boston Globe Award. Her Holocaust story, Four Perfect Pebbles, was a recipient of the Sidney Taylor Award.

In June, 2011, Lila Perl published her first Ebook, What I Did Last Summer, a story about the magic of a first love at a rustic summer camp far from parental restrictions and shadowed by a looming war. Fifteen-year-old Bryna tells her story as she teeters between innocence and young womanhood, a story that is funny,tender,and wistful.

 

Customer Reviews

47 Reviews
5 star:
 (33)
4 star:
 (9)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (47 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Its a great story of a family's courage during the Holocaust, June 17, 1999
By A Customer
I am in 6th grade and 11 years old. I love holocaust stories better than anything and this is definitely a five star book! I have read this book and it is fabulous. Marion and her family show great courage as they fight the battle of antisemitism. I love this book and I want Marion Blumenthal to know that it has touched me very much. It was so stirring that I couldn't put it down. If you liked this book, you should read Never to be Forgotten by Beatrice Muchman. (You can order it here on Amazon.) Marion, her mother, brother and father are wonderful testimonies of strength and courage during WWII. Anyone else who has a story like this should tell it. There are to many people out there who love these stories alot, I'm one of them. Thankyou for sharing your story with us Mrs. Blumenthal!!! It is fantastic!
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story--Amazing woman, June 8, 2005
This review is from: Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story (Paperback)
This book is unforgettable as a story of the Holocaust from the eyes of a child. I've had the pleasure of hearing Marion speak several times and she is marvelous. My students read her book this past school year and then went to see her for an author visit. They were moved to tears--even the boys--by her life during the war. Reading the book and then hearing her speak about her experiences is sobering. Her message isn't just about the Holocaust; it is also about learning tolerance and fairness which is certainly a page we can all learn from in today's world.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Read, September 11, 2003
This review is from: Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story (Paperback)
FOUR PERFECT PEBBLES is just one of thousands of such stories that mandate telling and retelling. Simply and beautifully, Perl relates one little girl's mode of survival through one of history's most heinous periods. As the author of another Holocaust book, FAR ABOVE RUBIES by Cynthia Polansky, I read everything I can get my hands on pertaining to the Holocaust. This one is a gem that must not be overlooked.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Long before dawn crept through the windows of the wooden barrack, Marion stirred in Mama's arms. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
four perfect pebbles, death train
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, New York, Uncle Ernst, Tante Gerda, Walter Blumenthal, Germany's Jews, Nieuw Amsterdam, Youth Aliyah, Polish Jews, Tante Clara
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