The Island on Bird Street

By Uri Orlev , Translated by Hillel Halkin ,

Book cover of The Island on Bird Street

Book description

During World War II a Jewish boy is left on his own for months in a ruined house in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he must learn all the tricks of survival under constantly life-threatening conditions.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The Island on Bird Street as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

"It was like living on a desert island. Instead of the sea, there were houses and people around me." Aleks, aged 11, uses a metaphor fetched from his favorite book, Robinson Crusoe, to describe his own struggle for survival. But his "island" is a ruined house in the ghetto, where he hides after having been separated from his father during a raid by the Nazis. Just as resourceful and inventive as his literary role model, Aleks manages to fend for himself while hoping for his father to return.

Uri Orlev, himself a survivor of the Warsaw ghetto and Bergen-Belsen,…

If you love The Island on Bird Street...

Ad

Book cover of Changing Woman: A Novel of the Camp Grant Massacre

Changing Woman by Venetia Hobson Lewis,

Arizona Territory, 1871. Valeria Obregón and her ambitious husband, Raúl, arrive in the raw frontier town of Tucson hoping to find prosperity. Changing Woman, an Apache spirit who represents the natural order of the world and its cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, welcomes Nest Feather, a twelve-year-old Apache girl,…

Want books like The Island on Bird Street?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The Island on Bird Street.

Browse books like The Island on Bird Street

Book cover of War
Book cover of How I Live Now
Book cover of When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

2,354

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like The Island on Bird Street, you might also like...

Book cover of Immigrant Soldier: The Story of a Ritchie Boy

Immigrant Soldier by K. Lang-Slattery,

Germany 1938. Herman watches in horror as his cousin is arrested. As a Jew, he realizes he must flee Germany, a decision that catapults him into a life changed forever by the gathering storm of world events.

Part coming-of-age fiction, part immigrant tale, part military adventure, Immigrant Soldier follows Herman’s…

Book cover of Upon the Corner of the Moon

Upon the Corner of the Moon by Valerie Nieman,

Upon the Corner of the Moon begins the story of real people who’ve been rewritten into emblems of evil. Macbeth is raised in the royal court, immersed in Christian teachings and guided toward leadership alongside his foster-brother and rival, Duncan. Gruach is raised in the traditions of a Goddess religion…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the German occupation of Europe, the Holocaust, and Poland?

The Holocaust 428 books
Poland 123 books