My heart! This was such a tearjerker for me. This middle grade novel set in the months following the fall of the Twin Towers wrecked me emotionally and I can't recommend it enough. 8th grade singer, Shirli Berman, wants to look forward to something positive in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack and the loss of her grandmother. She has her sights set on being Hodel in the spring musical, Fiddler on the Roof. When she is stuck playing Golde, the mother, she is at first disappointed but then realizes her "husband" will be the most popular boy in school. She may not get any solos but she can act and sing her heart out. As a Jewish teen, Shirli relates to the story of the musical, her grandfather was even from Poland not long after the play is set. She wants to really get into the part so she starts going over to her grandfather's house more and trying to get him to talk about his past, something he never does. Even her father (his son) doesn't know about all the terrible things he suffered through during the Holocaust. Shirli and her grandfather start bonding over the musical and start opening up to each other in very powerful ways. A wonderful, moving story. ( )

Broken Strings is a layered and thoughtful, well written story of a girl who in the course of preparing for a role in her middle school play she discovers a family secret. This was my first Eric Walters book but it won't be my last. I really enjoyed the writing and feel that it can be read by both young adults and adults. ( )

This is a lovely and heartwarming story about a girl who learns about her grandfather's experiences during the Holocaust while preparing for a school production of Fiddler on the Roof. I'd read a number of Eric Walters novels with my kids when they were younger and my favourite of those are We All Fall Down, set during 9/11 in New York City. This book is also set in New York City, a short time after 9/11, and explores, among other themes, how the community attempts to recover from that life-changing event. ( )

Shirli dreams of playing the role of Hodel in her school’s production of Fiddler on the Roof, and is very disappointed to be cast instead as Golde, Tevye’s wife. In an attempt to get a better grasp on her part, she asks her grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, about their family history. Though he’s initially hesitant to open up, when Shirli discovers an old violin in his attic, he eventually tells her his story, which is more heartbreaking than she could have imagined.

This is a good story, and an important one. It’s well-plotted, but I found the writing to be rather pedestrian: the dialogue is stiff in places, the tone often didactic. I’d recommend it to kids learning about the Holocaust, and to those who love theatre. I probably wouldn’t recommend it to adults, though, unless those subjects are specifically appealing. ( )

This was a complex and rich story.

The relationship between Shirli and her Zayde is a kind and gentle one, the kind that makes everyone think fondly of their own grandfather. I found their inside joke about the bananas quite cute.

Zayde has had a difficult past that he doesn't like to speak about, but Shirli, and eventually Ben help to draw that out of him. Given that the subject matter is difficult, and this is geared toward younger readers, I understand why the elements of Zayde's story were told in pieces. The telling of his story and Zayde's emotions and words about it gave me chills.

I was less thrilled with having to read as Shirli retells the events to her friends, but I understand the place of this in the story, and how it helps move things along.

I have studied the holocaust in school, but I don't remember ever learning that there were orchestras in the concentration camps, so that was something new for me.

Because of the focus on the production of the play, I kept thinking that these kids were already in high school, forgetting that they are only in middle school. This means that I was probably more irritated at some of Shirli's quirks than I should have beem like the excessive use of exclamation points. This was overkill though, even for a middle schooler.

The romance between Shirli and Ben is sweet, just the right mix of embarrassment and shyness for two kids in middle school.

I also loved one of Zayde's pieces of advice to the cast of the play, to "don't ever retire. Keep finding things that you love to do."(258) I wish I had had that extra push from someone at that age.

Overall, this book is a well balanced mix of serious historical issues, some not so far in the past, and sweet kindness.

* I won a copy of this book via Librarything* ( )