Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story by Lila Perl

Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story Reviews

• 
  Richard Derus

  Rating: 4* of five
  
  In the annals of man's cruelty to man, the Holocaust stands out for its sheer, industrial-scale coldness and horror. There is ample literature attesting to the awfulness of being condemned to death for the mere accident of being born to a Jewish parent. This book, another entry into that crowded segment, is aimed at young readers.
  
  I don't know that any book about the Holocaust is something I want young readers to read. It's too huge and too vile a topic to make me feel comfortable introducing it to those whose lives are still in the vulnerable and bendable stage. I wouldn't let my child read this book, far better she should read the Marquis de Sade than this kind of material.
  
  But the world disagrees with me. So I am renewedly glad that I have no young children. But I think this story is one that makes the idea of the Holocaust, its especial and unique evil in human history, more painfully poignantly real than any other literary work I've ever seen: This is the story of a child who went through the system with her family intact, until the bitter horrifying end of the tale. This is what the horrible, vile, evil, disgusting Germans wanted to destroy: A little girl, her mama, her papa, and her big brother.
  
  Because they were Jews.
• 
  Cindi

  I have been reading a lot of books about Jews during WWII lately. This book provided a different perspective than those I have been reading. The Blumenthal family realized the danger they were in and planned to get away to the U.S. First they moved to Holland and were scheduled to depart for the U.S. with all of their papers intact when they were rescheduled to leave later. In the time before they were to set sail, the harbor was bombed and Hitler's men had moved in and transported them to a concentration camp. The family of four did survive the camp as well as the Death Train, named so because of the high number of people who perished from Typhus while on board.
  
  This was a straightforward story without lots of details, but with some of the surrounding history included. It provided a perspective I had not read about before. I'm beginning to see how everyone had their own individual story and they could all be told. Each one unique and different.
  
  Something that stood out to me from this book:
  
  Included in the containers were linens and silver that would one day be part of four-year-old Marion's wedding trousseau. Handing down such items was a family tradition that went back for generations."
  
  Of course, Marion never received these items as they were either stolen from the Germans or in this case, bombed in Rotterdam. It makes me think of all of those people and their precious treasures to hand down to the generations, lost. Of course, their traditions and the soul of the people go even deeper than those items.
  
  Another quote:
  
  Hitler insisted that he had the remedy for all of Germany's woes. Through his frequent public speeches at massive Nazi-sponsored rallies, he made his message clear. he would restore Germany's honor, increase its territory, and bring back its lost prosperity."
  
  Reminds me just a little bit of the U.S. today. Scary!
• 
  Phil J

  A teacher's comments
  
  This is an excellent overview of the Holocaust. I chose it for my students because I wanted something less disturbing than
  Night and more accurate than
  The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It fits the bill.
  
  The big surprise with this book is that most of it does not read like a narrative. The narrative is kind of wrapped around a lot of historical details, so the reading skills involved are more expository than you might expect.
  
  The expository sections dovetail well with the narrative portions, but the result is that it decreases the intensity.
  
  Because this is a true story, it's messy. The family emigrates to Holland, then the father is briefly sent to a camp, then they all try to emigrate to the US, then they all go to Westerbork, then they try to emigrate to Palestine, then they go to Bergen-Belsen, then they get on a train to Auschwitz. It's very accurate and a bit confusing for lower readers. The prologue previews all these plot point, which ruins some of the tension but also makes it easier to follow.
  
  The right level of disturbing is hard to find in Holocaust books. On one end of the spectrum, books like
  Number the Stars are very child-appropriate and also contain little to no information about what happened in the camps. On the other hand, books like
  Night are too graphic for many students. Four Perfect Pebbles is a decent middle ground, but it's a little more intense than I would have liked. The first chapter opens with descriptions of piles of dead bodies, and there is a photograph of corpses in the center of the book. I was looking for PG, and this book gave me PG13.
  
  I recommend this book for anyone who wants a well-presented, Middle School level description of the Holocaust, beginning in the early '30s and focusing on Germany and Holland.
• 
  Jeanie Papiernik

  The author of this book, Marion Blumenthal Lazan, came to our school for an assembly with the 6th graders. In preparation for her visit, I had my students read her book. The students were excited to have her come and it was touching to hear her tell her own Holocaust story. My students were able to write letters to her which we delivered when she came to our school. You can visit her website at fourperfectpebbles.com. What an inspiring lady.
• 
  Sharon Huether

  Marion Blumenthal Lazan, recalls her life in Germany before and during the Holocaust.
  She has four little pebbles in her coat pocket representing her family. Keeping them close she feels her family will also be close.
  
  Being Jewish, they were trying to leave the country. They were together in Germany then Holland and back to Germany.
  
  Her story is a remembrance of the hardships, illness and near starvation they all faced.
• 
  Claudia Moscovici

  In a child’s imagination, there’s a fine line between hope and superstition. For Marion Blumenthal, a nine-year-old Jewish girl imprisoned with her family in the notorious concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, hope meant psychological survival in dire conditions, where death was a near certainty. Holding four pebbles in her hand, the young girl tells her older brother, Albert: “Look closely. I have these three pebbles, exactly matching. Today I will find the fourth. I suppose you think I’m silly’” (Four Perfect Pebbles co-written by Lila Perl and Marion Blumenthal Lazan, New York: Scholastic, 1996, 7). Although Albert humors his emotional and imaginative sister, for Marion finding the fourth pebble represents the survival of each one of her family members: her mother, her father, herself and her brother. The memoir Four Perfect Pebbles tells the story of the Blumenthal family’s survival against all odds. Of German origin, the Blumenthals flee the increasingly anti-Semitic measures adopted by the Nazis in Germany. They believe that they have escaped to relative safety in Holland. As the Nazi empire expands to Holland, however, in 1944 they arrange to be part of a group immigrating to Palestine (in exchange for release of German POW’s). However, to their misfortune, their ship is delayed by three months. Instead of finding their way to Israel, the Blumenthals are sent off first to the Dutch transit camp of Westerbork and later to the “Family Camp” in Bergen-Belsen.
  Four Perfect Pebbles offers invaluable historical information about the Holocaust, targeting a young adult audience and written for their level. It also describes an exceptional story of survival in one of the most lethal concentration camps: the same one, in fact, where Anne and Marion Frank perished. Initially intended as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943 Bergen-Belsen became a full-fledged Nazi concentration camp. Located in Northern Germany, it operated between 1940 and 1945. In June 1943, Bergen-Belsen was designated a “holding camp” for Jews that were supposed to be exchanged for German prisoners in other countries. The SS divided the camp into several sections, including the “Hungarian camp”, the “Special camp” for Polish Jews and the “Star camp” for Dutch Jews, where Marion Blumenthal and her family were interned.
  Aside from being deprived of sufficient food, water, adequate medical treatment and basic hygiene facilities, the inmates of Bergen-Belsen were forced to work all day long. Approximately 50,000 people perished there. Bergen-Belsen imprisoned Jews, Poles, Russians, Dutch, Czech, German and Austrian inmates. In August 1944, the Nazis created a new section, called the “Women’s camp”, which held about 9,000 women and girls at any given time. In general, the concentration camp became dangerously overcrowded, as over 80,000 people were brought there in cattle trains from camps in Poland and other areas overtaken by the Soviet army.
  Unlike Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen had no gas chambers. Yet as death surrounded her and dozens of corpses were laid out on top of one another outside her barracks each day, young Marion lived in constant fear of extermination: “’Even though we had been told,’ Marion said, ‘that there were no gas chambers at Bergen-Belsen, how could we ever be sure? … The soap that the prisoners at Bergen-Belsen were given before entering the showers did not guarantee their harmlessness. For it was common practice at Auschwitz to provide soap—and also the promise of hot coffee or warm soup afterward—in order to maintain calm and to deceive those about to be gassed” (66-67).
  Conditions at Bergen-Belsen were notoriously bad. They deteriorated rapidly towards the end of the war, even by concentration camp standards. Marion Blumenthal recalls, “By early 1945 the food at Bergen-Belsen consisted mainly of cabbage-flavored water and moldy bread. This ration was far less than the six hundred calories a day per inmate that the camp had formerly provided… The death toll was now mounting rapidly as the result of exposure, hunger, severe diarrhea, and fevers” (70). Anne and Marion Frank perished here from typhus in March 1945, only weeks before the camp’s liberation by the Allies.
  When the British and Canadians entered the camp on April 15, 1945, they found thousands of corpses and 60,000 half-starved and dangerous ill prisoners, themselves very close to death. But Marion and her family were not among them. After having been starved, forced into slave labor, attacked by fleas and allowed to languish sick from typhus, the Nazis forced them to march for miles as they were fleeing the Allies. Soon, however, they were finally freed by the Soviets and ended up in a refugee camp in Tröbitz. As she had grasped her four perfect pebbles, Marion continued to hold on to the hope of her family’s survival. Unfortunately, her father didn’t make it. He succumbed to typhus in May 1945. His death came as a blow to their tight-knit nuclear family. As Marion notes, “We had come so far, through flight, imprisonment, evacuation, the Nazis’ final attempt to destroy us, liberation at last, and now this—freedom and sorrow” (99). Her memoir, Four Perfect Pebbles, keeps his memory—and that of countless other Holocaust victims--alive. This book is not only an important historical document, but also a moving testimony of the paradoxical “freedom and sorrow” of being liberated after having suffered so much trauma and the inconsolable loss of loved ones that perished in the Holocaust.
  
  Claudia Moscovici, Holocaust Memory
  
• 
  Ms. Hesse

  A review provided by one of my 6th grade students from Maplewood Middle School :
  
  The book Four Perfect Pebbles is a true story from the perspective of a holocaust survivor during the holocaust in a concentration camp. The book is written in a way that is different than any other book I have read is written, it is different because the author flawlessly makes transitions from past to current and from 1st to 3rd person. That is a very difficult thing to do and if you don’t do it correctly it can make the book very confusing but they did it right and when you do it right it is amazing. Back to the story, the story is truly amazing and really gives us a perspective of the holocaust that we have never seen we know that she survives but still the book makes you worry about what will happen next. It is an amazing book and I really recommend it to anyone.
• 
  Ken

  A straightforward account of Marion Blumenthal Lazan's experiences as a German Jew in the 1930's and 40's. The title refers to her family -- Father Walter, Mother Ruth, brother Albert, and herself -- and how they escaped from Germany to Holland only to be overtaken there once the Nazis invaded Holland. Considerably luckier than, say, the Wiesels in NIGHT who wound up at Auschwitz, the Blumenthals served time at Bergen-Belsen (also no picnic). Much less graphic than Elie Wiesel's account, FOUR PERFECT PEBBLES is a simply written, YA account of the Holocaust with only marginally-upsetting scenes (textbook-like descriptions of gas chambers).
• 
  Ashley

  Marion has an amazing story and I was able to hear it first-hand! We are fortunate to be one of the last generations to hear the accounts from the authors! Her lesson of tolerance is remarkable.
• 
  Carolyn Scarcella

  This book I’m reading is called “Four Pebbles” written by Lila Pearl and a Holocaust survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan. This story was told from a child’s perspective and is very well written, blunt and straight to the truth. . The book, while short and a very quick read is a story of both heartbreak, strength, courage, and faith. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It tells the story of Blumenthal family’s survival against all odds. Why I choose this book because it was simple, well written for the young and adult readers. A very good introduction to the Holocaust. Marion stayed true to her experience and history without being too graphic. The Blumenthal family was forced to live in refugee, transit Westerbok, and Bergen Belsen for the next 6 and half years. As a result did the family survive? Did they get to America? You can decide.
• 
  Michael Williams

  The book that I read is called four perfect pebbles. It is called that because she and her family are at a camp for jews in bergen belsen and she finds four perfect pebbles 1 for each member of her family.
  
  This is a nonfiction book about how hitler and the nazis were holding all of germany’s jewish people in a camp at bergen belsen and it was in the perspective of a little girl named marion and she is the youngest child. Her older brother Albert and her father would always get extra food for the family by trading cigarettes for more food and that helped them survive the years at bergen belsen.
  
  I really enjoyed this book because the author did a really nice job of making me feel like I was right there with the suffering family at the camp. This was also a very powerful book because it explained what it was like for all of the people who died and all of the suffering and it showed what the germans did to people just because of their religion. It really helped me understand what it would've been like to be at the camp with all of the people.
  
  I would recommend this book to anyone that would like to read and learn about what the camps were like during World War 2. This book left me an understanding of what it was like to be a jewish person at a bergen belsen during World War 2.
  
• 
  Eva-Marie

  This edition is apparently only available through the school market by Scholastic. I can't, even knowing how important this knowledge is, see giving this to a young child. Maybe a teenager but even with this, I believe younger children still need to be shielded...while they can. I might hand this to my daughter as a teenager or older but not any younger and it depends on her maturity.
  I was surprised to see one or two of the pictures in this also- shocking pictures that I've seen before, as an adult, and that I really don't know how I would have handled as a child.
  The book is great for adults and maybe younger people alike- I found out a couple minor things I didn't know. I had no idea all Jewish women were given the middle name Sarah for instance. That's not all I learned.
  It's important for this knowledge to be passed on. I think there is an age appropriateness that needs to be listened to here though.
• 
  Brenda Yttrup

  If you want a story about the Holocaust to read to your older grade school children, or even read themselves, this is an excellent one. It says just enough, without a lot of disturbing detail. Marion Lazan is a living survivor who travels around the world telling her story and sharing an inspiring message of tolerance. She emigrated to the US at a young age to make a new life after years of persecution, as well as her captivity in the concentration camp, Bergen-Belsen. She, her older brother, and mother survived their ordeal and made a new life in the states. Her father, unfortunately, did not live and died from Typhus just weeks after the war. I had my students read the book and ironically, her story is much like Anne Frank's, had she survived. It is written at a fourth grade level and gives the reader a clear understanding of the Holocaust and familiarize them with what many Jewish people endured during this dark time. I recommend it.
• 
  Megan

  I had the opportunity to meet Marion Blumenthal Lazan last year when she came to speak to my students about her experience in a concentration camp. She is truly an amazing woman. She was so kind and gracious to us, yet she didn't sugarcoat the terrible events of the Holocaust. It was remarkable that she survived, let alone retained such a positive outlook on life. She has dedicated her life to talking to children and teens about the horrors of war and the way intolerance can destroy lives.
  
  Hearing her story first hand really made an impact on my students. They read The Diary of Anne Frank, but Anne seems almost like a fictional character to them. They were captivated by Ms. Lazan, and I hope they never forget her message of peace.
• 
  Lori Henrich

  This is the story of Marion Blumenthal and her family. When Marion was little she believed in her heart of hearts that if she could find 4 pebbles that were exactly alike it meant that her entire family would survive the war.
  
  The Blumenthal family made it to Holland only to wind up back in Germany. They tried in many ways to get away through legal channels, but every time a plan was set into place, it blew up in their faces. Yet they continued to have perseverance and to believe that somehow they would be okay.
  
  Good story. Wasn't sure I wanted to read at first but when it came up in my list, especially after watching the movie Unbroken, I decided "Why not". It is a very easy and quick read. The story is told mostly by Marion and her mother.
• 
  Alicia

  A simple story about the cost of war on one family who made it through the Holocaust. Written about the Blumenthal family, Walter and Ruth and their kids, Albert and Marion, were refugees in other countries, sent on trains to camps, worked to skeletal frames, and freed by Russian forces only to make the agonizing decision to leave Europe behind for the United States. The family's story is easy to understand and as much as any Holocaust story, hard to understand that something like this could have happened. The pictures speak for what doesn't get said and the family's words themselves are a great witness to their feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and then finally rebirth, even as they lost Walter, soon after their freedom, from disease.
  
  
• 
  Novia Long

  This book gives me a brief idea of the horrible history of Jews' life under the Nazis. The narrative switches between third person and first person - in which was the real life experience of a woman now in her sixties going through the torturing time when she was a little girl. It is a well-written little book although it is really short. This book is also more painfully real than any other books of this kind I have ever read. It reveals the evil, horrific human history of being sentenced to death for the accident of being born to a Jewish parent. It is cruel, disgusting, unbelievable and extremely unhuman.
• 
  Aikawa

  I absolutely loved this beautiful, life-affirming book, though it's just a short story.
  When I read it, it made me recall the book called Forty Autumns, though they are not in the same background, they have the same mental state, all suffered.
  I love history fiction, especially around World War two. They remind me how horrifying the wars were.
  When reading the novel, To many emotions seized me, just like I stayed with Marion and had immersive experiences.
  "The date of our landing was April twenty-third, 1948. By coincidence, it was exactly three years to the day since we had been liberated from the death train by the Russians."
  
• 
  Moe

  I have had my share of Holocaust books. To be perfectly honest, I believe that many people have had it worse than the main character here. A couple years back, This woman came to my school and talked to us about the Nazi invasion and her own experience. Back then, I was horrified. Now, well I have heard far worse experiences than this. I don't think that this book is bad at all, but I think that this book should be a parenting tool for a younger, sensitive, audience than a 7th grader. Otherwise, I felt that this story had a beautiful ending to a traumatic real-life experience.
• 
  Kiki

  I read this last year for school. It was really sad (obviously, since it's about the holocaust) but I'm glad I read it. Bad things happened in history and you can't just pretend like they didn't exist, so books like this exist so people will not forgot about what real people had to go through. I can't say I fully enjoyed this, but I did like reading it, and learning. It was a good book, a very good one, it's just so sad!
• 
  Tarissa

  I found this book uncommonly absorbing, for being written in a biography style. Mostly you will learn about many events from World War II, and how a true story was played out for the Blumenthal family.
  
  I expected the book to be okay, but as it turned out, I really enjoyed it! I truly recommend this book for anyone at all, who is interested in reading a real life Holocaust story.
• 
  Mariah Roze

  This book is a true story about a young girl that lived through the holocaust. This story is super captivating, keeps you on your toes and still has a happy ending. I highly suggest it! I am reading it with my 8th graders now and they love it :)
• 
  Chrisann Justice

  I "read" this book by listening to the audible version. I love books that bring light out of darkness and this book did that. I cried as I listened to Marion Blumenthal share, in her own voice, the insights she had learned from her experience. It was a tragic yet beautiful story.
• 
  Giuliana

  I did understand what was going on in the book!!
• 
  Hannah Montana

  OK i'm acully sad that it was so short i mean i loved it it was one of the best books i've read in a long time it was so sad though i felt really bad for the blumenthals and all the other Jews
• 
  Sashi Kaufman

  An excellent middle school appropriate non-fiction, but dramatized read. Informative but also well paced and interspersed with good story-telling detail. Good length for a classroom read-aloud.
• 
  Sarah Enchanted

  Had to read it for English class was really good! Got to meet the survivor Marian Blumenthal!!!!!!!
• 
  Jason Bellamy

  I was fortunate enough to meet Marion and hear this story first hand! This likely made it more powerful for this reader, but an amazing story either way.