Lasky's Broken Song

Broken Song. By Kathryn Lasky. Perfection Learning, 2007. 150 pages. Ages: 9-12 or Grades 5-8. ISBN: 978-0756979621.

Order info: http://www.amazon.com/Kathryn-Lasky/e/B000APL6IK/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Though she is most recently popular for her children’s series “Guardians of Ga’Hoole, Kathryn Lasky is an incredibly talented author of historical fiction for children. According to her website, the author promises to deliver the same quality in her new animal series, “Wolves of the Beyond.”

On a historical level, Broken Song tells the story of a young Jewish boy who escapes the destruction of his small village in Russia by soldiers of the Czar after the death of his family. Carrying his infant sister to safety, Reuven Bloom displays incredible courage and strength of character.

I applaud Ms. Lasky for providing this genre for our children. Broken Song is written with appropriate emotion and suspense, and will increase a child’s knowledge of the Jewish pogroms that occurred in Russia during the turn of the nineteenth century, and increase sensitivity to the suffering and injustice of minority groups both in the past and the present. 

http://www.kathrynlasky.com/KK/Home.html