Historical Fiction Review: Run, Boy, Run

Picture courtesy of Amazon.com

Title: Run, Boy, Run

Author: Uri Orlev

Genre: Historical Fiction

Illustrator: Not Available 

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company

Copyright Date: 2001

Pages: 186

Awards: The Batchelder Award 2004

Summary: This book is about a boy who survives the Holocaust. However this is not the typical Holocaust book because this book shares a young man's journey of surviving outside of the concentration camps and what he had to do in order to live. It starts out with him being separated from his mother and then living on his own. He then finds a group of boys who he joins and they steal food and live in the forest. Srulik (also named Jurek in the book) lives on his own when separated and learns how to survive. He wanders from farm to farm and carrying out jobs for food and housing. He works on a farm and has an accident with his arm that results in the loss of his right arm. He learns how to overcome his disability and survive on his own with just one arm. He helps out the Russian soldiers who then take him under their wing, and then the war is over. Eventually Jurek is captured by the Jewish orphanage people who help him learn his origin and then he falls in love and lives happily ever after.

Educational Purpose: I would use this book in a Holocaust Unit. There would be three books at different levels and Run, Boy, Run would be for the lower level readers. Students would have to complete a comprehension packet with questions related to the text as they read. When the students finish the book I would have them do a book report, but I would let them choose how they want to present the book. I would provide three options:  timeline of the book with at least ten events from the book, a new book jacket for the book, or a book in the bag (ten items that represent people, places, and events from the book). Then students would present their book report to the class. 

Grade Level: (Sixth-Eighth Grade) This book has no illustrations, it is a chapter book that is longer in length. There are more complex vocabulary words that are introduced, and abstract ideas that will help challenge the reader. The intended purpose is to expand the readers knowledge and reading skills. Lexile 570L. 

Ratings:

					Comments
Plot	Excellent plot that is clever and has many surprising twists.	Good plot that has some surprises.	This is an okay plot that is kinda interesting.	Loose plot with many holes, and fails to grab the reader’s attention.	The plot is complicated and has a lot of twists and surprises. Very good story.
Character	Excellent characterization. The characters are complex and provide a strong emotional impact on the reader.	The characters are believable and the reader can relate to them, and feel an emotional tie to the characters.	The characters are lacking but likable. There is some emotional attachment to the characters.	The characters are poorly described, and leave the reader feeling detached from the book.	The character is very complex and interesting. Throughout the story you are hoping for his survival.
Illustration	Excellent illustrations. Very detailed, creative, and connected to the book.	Illustrations were good and showed something important about the book.	The illustrations were okay, they were not very creative.	There was no illustrations, or they were not interesting.	No illustrations available.
Recommendation	Excellent book that I highly recommend having in your classroom or library. This book will captivate, enchant, fascinate, and basically make you obsess about it.	Good book that I recommend having in your classroom or library. The book was interesting and kept my interest and was overall very engaging.	This book was okay. I believe this would be a book to check out from the library if you're feeling bored.	This book was awful and I cannot recommend it for your classroom or library. This book will leave you wishing you could rewind time so you don’t read it.	I would highly recommend this book. This is a good resource for teachers to have in their classroom library.