National Jewish Book Award Finalist Rosner's exquisite heart-rending debut novel is proof that
there's always going to be room for another story about World War II....This is an absolutely
beautiful and necessary novel full of heartbreak but also hope about the bond between mother
and daughter and the sacrifices made for love. -The New York Times In Poland as World War II
rages a mother hides with her young daughter a musical prodigy whose slightest sound may cost
them their lives. As Nazi soldiers round up the Jews in their town Róza and her 5-year-old
daughter Shira flee seeking shelter in a neighbor's barn. Hidden in the hayloft day and
night Shira struggles to stay still and quiet as music pulses through her and the farmyard
outside beckons. To soothe her daughter and pass the time Róza tells her a story about a girl
in an enchanted garden: The girl is forbidden from making a sound so the yellow bird sings. He
sings whatever the girl composes in her head: high-pitched trills of piccolo low-throated
growls of contrabassoon. Music helps the flowers bloom. In this make-believe world Róza can
shield Shira from the horrors that surround them. But the day comes when their haven is no
longer safe and Róza must make an impossible choice: whether to keep Shira by her side or give
her the chance to survive apart. Inspired by the true stories of Jewish children hidden during
World War II Jennifer Rosner's debut is a breathtaking novel about the unbreakable bond
between a mother and a daughter. Beautiful and riveting The Yellow Bird Sings is a testament
to the triumph of hope-a whispered story a bird's song-in even the darkest of times.
