The Circlemaker

by Maxine Rose Schur

Book Overview

By Authority of Czar Nicholas, the families of Molovsk are to present their sons for induction into the military.Terms of conscription is 25 years.The Czar's soldiers are riding into villages... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140379975
• ISBN13: 9780140379976
• Release Date: June 1996
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.5" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

The Circlemaker

The Circlemaker, 11/25/03Reviewer: Carl Berg I used the Circlemaker by Maxine Rose Schur with my fifth grade students. Ms Schur's story of a young Jewish boy fighting conscription into the Czar's army in 1852 was one that captured my students' fascination and motivation. It was one of the few books where I had the children begging to read ahead. Ms Schur's character development is superb and the sub plot that exists is one that my students were able to learn a great lesson from. Throughout the story, the main character, Mendel, is confronted with having to build a relationship with his arch enemy, Dovid, who happens to also be running away from the Czar's conscriptors. Dovid, a bully, and master of evil, treats Mendel with disdain. Dovid finds himself in a life threatening predicament towards the end of the story and Mendel's ultimate reaction to the situation helps the reader to learn that a circle in life needs to be closed in order to be at peace with oneself. I truly recommend The Circlemaker to young and old.

A moving exploration of character and courage

This is a wonderful book about a little known period when children were conscripted into the army. The hero is an adolescent boy with the courage to change his destiny. It's an adventure story that keeps you glued from beginning to end. But unlike many adventure stories, there is a core of profound emotional truths that belie the genre. Obviously,the research that went into this book was exhaustive. And the power of the author to evoke the period is only one of the ways in which she excels as a writer. As a writer of historical fiction for young people she has few peers.