The creator of the series about third-grader Emma McGraw ( Only Emma, 2005, etc.) focuses on a new character here: EllRay Jakes, one of Emma's classmates.ĮllRay, a likable everykid with a sense of humor, is getting picked on he doesn't know why, nor what to do about it. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Ī somber and affecting Holocaust account, though the intended audience may find it a bit cryptic.

A moving epilogue discusses the Holocaust and explains why pebbles are placed on Jewish gravestones. Yellow and black represent Stars of David and horror, respectively. Illustrations exude a folkloric feel town scenes suggest enclosed spaces. Eitan’s voice is matter-of-fact and dispassionate. In a final scene, an old woman and her grandchild visit a cemetery, where the woman-subtly identified as Rivka-places the pebble on a grave because “his place is here, with his family.” Translated from Lithuanian, this is a poignant allegory about the Holocaust, but some symbolism may elude children.

Next, Eitan says, “it was our turn to walk through the gates.” Darkness descends years pass Eitan sleeps and becomes a pebble. Sometimes, “whole families” passed through. Eitan speaks of big black birds in his town that, in a frequently invoked metaphor, he compares to “men in black uniforms” who “built a wall and closed the gates.” Nobody who entered “ever came home”-like his Papa. In summer 1943, in Vilnius, Lithuania (identified as such in the backmatter), a Jewish boy named Eitan opens his narrative with an anecdote about flying his yellow kite with Rivka, his best friend and “the bravest girl in the whole world.” He and Rivka wear yellow stars on their clothing townsfolk wear the same. A boy describes love and devastating loss.

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