Run, Boy, Run (Batcheldor Award Novel)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Orlev, Uri. 2003. Run, Boy, Run. Translated by Hillel Halkin. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN 0618164650

PLOT SUMMARY
Run, Boy, Run is the harrowing true story of Srulik Frydman’s determination to survive against all odds during the Holocaust. The reader is introduced to Srulik, an eight year old Jew, as his family struggles for survival in the Warsaw ghetto. Young Srulik appears happy and content amongst the chaos with little awareness of his dire situation. However, life changes quickly for Srulik when he finds himself alone. Taking the advice of a friendly cobbler,  Srulik escapes to the Polish countryside. With a quick wit and the sporadic help of others, Surlik learns to hide his Jewish identity and outlast the horror of the Holocaust. Srulik does not survive unscathed and must come to terms with all he has lost in the war, including his identity.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Run, Boy, Run has been skillfully translated by Hillel Halkin from its original Hebrew taking care not to disrupt the cultural authenticity of Orlev’s novel. The names of characters have been kept in their original Polish, German, and Jewish forms, including the respectful titles of Pan (Mr.) and Pani (Mrs.). Careful attention to details aid in the realistic depiction of the life of farmers, widows, soldiers, and orphans.

Srulik spends the majority of the book surviving one day at a time, with little thought to all that was lost.  In order to survive he abandons his Jewish name in favor of a Polish name and denies himself the memories of his family and birth place. Srulik learns traditional Polish greetings and Catholic mannerisms until they become second nature. 

As the story concludes, his final challenge goes beyond basic survival and in some ways becomes a more perilous journey. Srulik is finally safe and is then forced to reconcile the facade he had expertly mastered during the war with his slowly reemerging memories of his family and Jewish heritage. Run, Boy, Run is a thoughtfully crafted book that displays the very real courage of a young boy who survived and chose to remember, just as his father had requested, that he was a Jew.

AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS
Mildred L Batcheldor Honor Award

Publishers Weekly- “authentic, childlike and wrenching”

School Library Journal- “reverberates with courage and determination”

Kirkus Reviews- “mesmerizing and memorable”

CONNECTIONS
Supplement learning about the Holocaust through these books.
Johnston, Tony. The Harmonica. ISBN 9781570914898
Volavkova, Hana (ed.). I Never Saw Another Butterfly: Children’s Drawings and Poems from Terezín Concentration Camp, 1942-1944. ISBN 9780805210156
Wiviott, Meg. Benno and the Night of Broken Glass. ISBN 978-0822599753

Make connections to other historical events with these stories told through the eyes of children.
Halse, Laurie. Chains. ISBN 9781416905868
Loyie, Larry. As Long as the Rivers Flow: A Last Summer before Residential School. ISBN 9780888996961
Uchida, Yoshiko. Journey to Topaz: a Story of the Japanese-American Evacuation. ISBN 9781890771911