Star of Fear, Star of Hope

Hoestlandt, Jo; Polizzotti, Mark

ISBN 10: 0802783740 ISBN 13: 9780802783745

Publisher: Walker & Co, 1995

Synopsis

Haunting artwork complements a gentle story about two girls, Helen and her Jewish friend, Lydia, during the Nazi occupation of France, and about love, courage, and betrayal.

About this title

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-4?This extraordinarily moving picture book, originally published in France and set in the north of France during World War II, has spare prose and appropriately stark illustrations. An elderly woman recalls an incident in her childhood that she would give anything to undo. Her Jewish friend Lydia is visiting, and, in the middle of the night, a frightened Jewish woman seeking refuge awakens them by pounding on the door of a "safe house" across the hall. Lydia then asks to be taken home. With deep sorrow and guilt, Helen remembers that she shouted at her friend for leaving on the eve of her birthday. Stars are the symbols around which the story turns. Lydia's mother, sewing the yellow star on her daughter's jacket, explains that a new law compels Jews to wear them but that "the place for stars is in the sky." The woman in the hall is trying to tear the star off her coat and when Helen, already contrite, opens the birthday present left for her by Lydia, she sees a paper doll with Lydia's face painted on, complete with a wardrobe including a jacket with a star. Helen never sees her friend again and, for a long time, she is angry at the stars. The illustrations appear to be of charcoal and crayon pastels in subdued colors with black outlines. The drawings are simple and barely rounded, almost as if the figures were paper dolls, as well. A mood of fear and impending doom prevails. Will it reach children? Absolutely. There is no book exactly like this one. Elisabeth Reuter's Best Friends (Yellow Brick Road, 1993) is somewhat similar, but Star is the superior title.?Marcia W. Posner, Holocaust Memorial and Educational Center of Nassau County, Glen Cove, NY
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Walker & Co
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0802783740
• ISBN 13: 9780802783745
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 1
• Illustrator: Kang Johanna