A Boy Is Not a Bird

by Edeet Ravel

Overview

A young boy named Natt finds his world overturned when his family is uprooted and exiled to Siberia during the occupation of the Soviet Ukraine by Nazi Germany.

In 1941, life in Natt’s small town of Zastavna is comfortable and familiar, even if the grownups are acting strange, and his parents treat him like a baby. Natt knows there’s a war on, of course, but he’s glad their family didn’t emigrate to Canada when they had a chance. His mother didn’t want to leave their home, and neither did he. He especially wouldn’t want to leave his best friend, Max. Max is the ideas guy, and he hears what’s going on in the world from his older sisters. Together the boys are two brave musketeers.

Then one day Natt goes home and finds his family huddled around the radio. The Russians are taking over. The churches and synagogues will close, Hebrew school will be held in secret, and there are tanks and soldiers in the street. But it’s exciting, too. Natt wants to become a Young Pioneer, to show outstanding revolutionary spirit and make their new leader, Comrade Stalin, proud.

But life under the Russians is hard. The soldiers are poor. They eat up all the food and they even take over Natt’s house. Then Natt’s father is arrested, and even Natt is detained and questioned. He feels like a nomad, sleeping at other people’s houses while his mother works to free his father. As the adults try to protect him from the reality of their situation, and local authorities begin to round up deportees bound for Siberia, Natt is filled with a sense of guilt and grief.

Why wasn’t he brave enough to look up at the prison window when his mother took him to see his father for what might be the last time? Or can just getting through war be a heroic act in itself?

Key Text Features
historical note map author’s note

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781773061740
Publisher:	Groundwood Books
Publication date:	09/01/2019
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.55(d)
Lexile:	740L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

EDEET RAVEL is an award-winning author of books for both young readers and adults. Her YA novel, Held, was nominated for the CLA Young Adult Book Award and the Arthur Ellis Crime Award, and her YA novel, The Saver, has been adapted for film and received awards around the world. Her novels for adults have won the Hugh MacLennan Prize and the Jewish Book Award and have been nominated for the Governor General’s Award and the Giller Prize. Edeet was born on an Israeli kibbutz and holds a PhD in Jewish Studies from McGill University.

Read an Excerpt

“When countries are fighting,” my mother says, “there can be a lot of confusion. You can’t predict from one day to the next what will happen. Imagine a flock of birds sitting together quietly on a haystack, enjoying the fine weather. A dog runs up to them and begins to bark, and with a big squawk and a tangle of wings they all disperse, up, up in the sky, in different directions. The war is the barking dog. But the birds will eventually come together again, and everything will resume as before.”

My father nods. “Yes, exactly. And war is when you get a chance to be a hero. Because every day that you get through it, you’ve done something heroic.”

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for author Edeet Ravel and A Boy Is Not a Bird:

Winner, Canadian Jewish Literary Awards — Children/Youth, 2020

Commended, Sydney Taylor Book Award — Middle-grade Notable, 2020

Finalist, Silver Birch Fiction Award, 2021

Nominee, Red Cedar Children’s Book Award — Fiction, 2020

Short-listed, Vine Award for Canadian Jewish Literary, 2020

CBC Books Best Canadian YA and Middle-Grade Books of 2020

“Basing her story on the experience of a beloved teacher, Ravel has Natt tell his own story in an ingenuous present tense that never loses its youthful quality even as it gains wisdom. An accessible gateway to mid-20th-century Eastern European history.” — Kirkus Reviews

“[An] excep­tion­al nov­el … [A] com­pelling sto­ry which choos­es dif­fi­cult and ambigu­ous truths over com­fort­ing simplification.” — Jewish Book Council

Praise for other works by Edeet Ravel:

“Ravel captures the voice and inner life of a small child ...” — Montreal Gazette review of The Last Rain (Penguin, 2011)

“A compelling story of determination and the will to survive.” — School Library Journal review of The Saver (Groundwood, 2008)

“Edeet Ravel once again proves herself an adept manipulator of difficult material ... This is rich, thought-provoking stuff.” — Quill and Quire review of Held (Annick, 2011)

Editorial Reviews

09/23/2019

Opening in the summer of 1940, as Russian Communists take over 11-year-old Natt’s hometown, Zastavna , this well-paced novel from Ravel (The Cat) follows Natt’s loving family and supportive Jewish community through increasingly invasive changes. As the months progress, he loses his home, town, and, finally, his country when he and his mother are among those deported to Siberia in the summer of 1941. Aptly describing himself as a “go-along-type of boy,” multilingual Natt initially focuses on how each change affects his daily routines and comforts: when Russian teachers replace their strict instructor, for example, Natt and his best friend Max—whose friendship is warmly, credibly depicted—are delighted. Natt enthusiastically takes on the opportunity to shine as a Pioneer, loyal to Stalin and the Communist cause, but his naiveté slowly fades as deprivations and cruelties intensify. With a big heart and developing intellect, Natt is an endearing figure, and secondary characters are equally well drawn, especially his eternally optimistic mother. The final scene leaves Natt’s future unresolved, but back matter explains that the novel, based on the experiences of Ravel’s fifth grade teacher, is the first title in a planned trilogy. Ages 9–12. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

[An] excep­tion­al nov­el … [A] com­pelling sto­ry which choos­es dif­fi­cult and ambigu­ous truths over com­fort­ing simplification.

Jewish Book Council

A powerful reminder of the effect of war on children.

CM Review of Materials

09/20/2019

Gr 4–6-Natt's parents had thought about leaving their small town of Zastavna years earlier and joining family members who emigrated to Canada. His mother wasn't ready to start her life over, and by the time she realized it was going to change regardless, it was too late. In 1940, the Russian army took over their town. Natt's school is now taught in Russian by new teachers who indoctrinate the students into post-revolution Russian culture, with a focus on becoming Stalin's "Young Pioneers." Natt's father once told him that war is when you get a chance to be a hero, but it is hard to know what to do or who to trust when every day brings new and harder challenges. Natt's life changes drastically when the Russian army takes over his family's house, turning it into a bank, and relocates the family to a single-room apartment. When his father is arrested for a crime he did not commit, a guilty verdict results in the family's relocation to Siberia. This title offers young readers insight into WWII and Soviet expansion, a topic not frequently explored in Western children's literature. Ravel fictionalizes the life-changing journey of a former teacher as the main character reminisces on his experiences. Natt's story begins having much in common with young readers, but bears less resemblance with each chapter as the horrors of World War II and Soviet oppression effectively end any sense of childhood. These traumatic experiences shape Natt's character. The book's transformative first-person narrative is effective in guiding the reader through a range of emotions. VERDICT With its focus on the political evolution of the Soviet Union, this evocative tale offers insight into a history with which young readers may not be familiar. Additional research into Russia's role in World War II and Siberian prison camps will help provide context for the novel's core issues.-Juliet Morefield, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

School Library Journal

2019-07-28
When his Romanian town becomes part of Soviet Ukraine in 1940, how long can Natt's naiveté last?

Eleven-year-old, asthmatic, Jewish Natt is happy in Zastavna, where he speaks five languages. There's German at home, Ukrainian to speak to his Ukrainian neighbors, Hebrew from his secular, Zionist Hebrew school, Yiddish to talk to some of his Jewish neighbors, and, of course, Romanian at school. When Soviets take over Zastavna, Natt's excited to learn Russian, too. He's pleased about many changes the Soviets bring: The meanest teacher is gone, the new teacher is nice (if oddly nervous), and Natt will soon be a Pioneer with a red kerchief. But not all the changes are good. The Russians take over Natt's house, and there's never food anymore. Though Natt's torn between the cynicism of his best friend and his mother's attempts to paint a rosier picture, he sees the grim truth when his father is sent to a Siberian gulag. Soon Natt, too, is arrested, and this once-proud Pioneer is deemed "an Enemy of the People" and deported to Siberia with his mother. Basing her story on the experience of a beloved teacher, Ravel has Natt tell his own story in an ingenuous present tense that never loses its youthful quality even as it gains wisdom. Though a historical note focuses on Hitler, Natt never encounters the horrors of Nazis.

An accessible gateway to mid-20th-century Eastern European history. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 8-11)

Kirkus Reviews