The Yellow Bird Sings, Jennifer Rosner, author; Anna Koval, narrator
This is a poignant tale about a mother running for her life, during the Holocaust. Her parents have been taken away by the Nazis. Her husband has been murdered by them. Róza is fleeing her home in Poland with her five year old child, in tow. Shira is beyond her five years in maturity. Music was part of her life since her talented parents were musicians. Her mother played the cello, her father the violin and her grandfather made beautiful instruments before the Nazis came to power. She herself, is a prodigy and music sustains her.
When she and her mother are discovered as they try to escape the German troops, the farmer hides them in his hay loft visiting her mother by night as payment. In order to cope with her terror and confusion, Shira creates an imaginary friend, a yellow bird that must not sing, but a bird that still helps to guide her and give her courage.
When it becomes apparent, after months and months, that they are no longer safe in the barn, Róza consents to send Shira to a convent for safe keeping until the war ends. Shira never quite fully comprehends why all this is happening to her, but she is obedient and does as she is told even when it comes to taking a new name to hide her own identity. To remind her of who she truly is, her mother stitches her name in tiny stitches, into the seam of her blanket which Shira is never without.
Will she and her mother ever reunite? How will both Shira and Róza survive on their own, without each other to provide comfort. The book ends with hopefulness even in the face of such dark times. Telling more would give away the story which is sometimes contrived with the conjunction of unlikely coincidences, but still, the book is grounded in history and in facts. It is well researched and well read by the narrator. As a matter of fact, I would recommend the book as an audio over the print edition so the lyrical prose can be fully appreciated.

It is 1941 and we find Roza and Shira hiding in a barn after they fled the city where they lived.

Roza saw her parents and husband killed, and she realized the only way to keep her daughter safe was to run.

Shira was only five, had a gift for music, but could not make a sound.

They hid for approximately 400 days in a barn. It definitely was difficult to keep a five-year-old child quiet, but Shira did it.

It eventually became too dangerous to keep hiding. The farmer's wife took Shira from Roza and sent her to an orphanage while Roza fled into the woods.

Your heart will break for the characters as you wonder how you would feel about having to send your children away to protect them.

We follow both characters as they yearn for each other and try to survive without each other - Shira in a convent and Roza on the run freezing and barely surviving in the woods.

You will be drawn into the lives of Roza and Shira and ache along with them.

THE YELLOW BIRD SINGS is a beautiful, but heart wrenching story. It is a story of bravery and endurance.

If you enjoy historical fiction, learning of musical prodigies, and books lyrically and beautifully written along with a story line that pulls you in, you will not want to miss this book.

It will stay with you long after you close the cover. 5/5

This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.