Skip to main content

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto. With incredible luck, perseverance, and grit, Leyson was able to survive the sadism of the Nazis, including that of the demonic Amon Goeth, commandant of Plaszow, the concentration camp outside Krakow. Ultimately, it was the generosity and cunning of one man, a man named Oskar Schindler, who saved Leon Leyson’s life, and the lives of his mother, his father, and two of his four siblings, by adding their names to his list of workers in his factory—a list that became world renowned: Schindler’s List. (Amazon)

Category: YA Nonfiction/Autobiography

Why I chose this book - Award winner, title caught my attention while browsing the library

My personal opinion: The most surprising thing in this story is the lack of bitterness and hatred from Leon as he describes the awful circumstances he went through. I am amazed at his ability to have let go and forgiven so easily. Despite the amount of violence described, he doesn't dwell on it or give vivid descriptions of the violence. He states what happened, giving an accurate picture and then moves on. I thought it was a wonderful story about bravery, the ties of family, and making it through difficult (to say the least) circumstances. I also think it works great as a young adult novel. It doesn't shy away from stating that bad things happened: People died, families were separated, hardships were born, but as stated above he doesn't dwell on it with bitterness or go over every minute detail.

Warnings:
Violence: A lot. No gory details are given, but he describes scenes such as seeing his father being beaten by Nazis. Hard and dangerous work in the factories. Talk of starvation. Cramped living conditions. Hiding from Nazies and hearing guns shooting those around them. Upon entrance to one of the work camps everyone is told to strip naked and all their hair (head and pubic) is shaved. That is as detailed as the description gets.

Death: Lots. Siblings of the main characters are taken away on trains and never come back. Entire communities are unceremoniously executed. There is brief talk about gas chambers (but there characters don't go there.) Leon talks about thinking that he was going to die, either in Plaszow (work camp) or by a bullet.

Movie rating equivalent: PG-15 at least 

Protagonist description: Leon was 10 years old when Nazis invaded and took over his town, forcing him and his family into years of deplorable living conditions. He went on to live a full life and died in 2013. Later in his life, Leon gave presentations about his experiences when asked by Churches and schools. He never used notes.  

Point of view of story: First person, autobiography/memory

Book length: Quick

Story flow: Very fluid, fairly fast paced 

Grammar and spelling issues: None. City names are in German/Polish,so they seem a bit foreign.

Character connection (no spoilers): Schindler


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Happily Ever After Kiera Cass

Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Short novellas and after stories from the perspective of other main characters from The Selection Series. Includes: -The Prince (with the two bonus chapters), Maxon’s novella -The Guard, Aspen’s novella -The Queen, Amberly’s novella -The Favorite, Marlee’s novella -Three scenes from Celeste’s POV -Lucy’s scene (bonus scene from The One) -The bonus epilogue -Where are they now? Category: YA Why I chose this book: Selection of novellas filling in gaps in The Selection series.  My personal opinion (the review): Of the entire series this was by far and away my favorite. I loved getting to hear parts of the stories from other perspectives. There was also additional details not found in the original story. All my questions or things I wondered about where answered through these stories.  Warnings Language: None  Violence: None "Adult" situations: As with the other novels, a few scenes with more description than I would have liked. ...

The Game by Terry Schott

Brief synopsis (no spoilers) What if this life is just a simulation? What if our bodies are in another world, plugged into a virtual reality game, and our entire life is just one play in that game? What would our real life be like, if we could experience several full simulated lifespans, in our teen years, and then enter adulthood? That is the premise of this story. Category Sci-Fi Why I chose this book It was either free or discounted on Amazon, and sounded interesting My personal opinion (the review) Too many inconsistencies. For example: The real world is able to view the players in the game in "real time", but time in the game is sped up, so that a week in real life is worth a decade in the virtual world. How do real world people have enough time to experience the virtual world, in real time, while still being accelerated? Danielle enters the game 3 days behind Trew, but she only ends up being 1 year younger. If a week is a decade in the game, then 3 days should have be...

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

Summary: Every book needs you to turn the pages. But not every book needs you to tap it, shake it, jiggle it, or even blow it a kiss. Innovative and timeless, Tap the Magic Tree asks you to help one lonely tree change with the seasons. It begins with a bare brown tree. But tap that tree, turn the page, and one bright green leaf has sprouted! Tap again—one, two, three, four—and four more leaves have grown on the next page. Pat, clap, wiggle, jiggle, and see blossoms bloom, apples grow, and the leaves swirl away with the autumn breeze. (Amazon) Attention Span/reading level: Perfect for my three year old. I would say that ages 2-10 would really enjoy something like this. It really keeps kids engaged and makes them feel like part of the story. There is one word to one sentence per page. Good uses for book in teaching: Interaction, that the reader takes part in making the story, what a tree can do (leaves, blossoms, fruit) Favorite part:      Child: The fact that ...