The yellow bird

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The Yellow Bird is a 1977 book by the American author Myron Levoy . At that time it appeared under the original title Alan and Naomi . It was awarded the German Youth Literature Prize in Germany in 1982 and the Austrian State Prize in Austria . Using the example of a young girl, the book shows the psychological consequences of the Nazi crimes and is at times the subject of German lessons at secondary schools.

content

The novel is about Alan Silverman, a 12-year-old Jewish boy who lived in an apartment building in the New York borough of Queens during World War II . He is interested in batter and model airplanes. He and his best friend Shaun Kelly pursue these hobbies. One day he meets the disturbed Jewish girl Naomi Kirschenbaum, who fled France with her mother because of the persecution of the Jews during the Second World War, was brought to the USA and is staying with the Liebmans, her friends.

When Alan comes home from a lost batball game, Naomi blocks his way into the apartment by sitting on the floor tearing up paper. When she sees Alan, she jumps up and shows great fear of the bat that Alan still holds in his hand from the game. Now Alan tries to calm Naomi down and to communicate with her in broken French, but instead she calls her mother, who lives one floor higher, runs away and shows panic fear of Alan. Alan then thinks Naomi is insane. His mother Ruth tells Alan about the Kirschenbaums and their terrible experiences in France. As an eight-year-old Naomi had to watch her father being slain by the National Socialists. Then they had to hide in a sewer for several days and then fled to America after three more years in Switzerland. After that, Ruth asks Alan to take care of her by visiting her every day because she is still traumatized, scared, screaming in her sleep and is afraid of weapon-like items like baseball bats.

Alan decides to help the girl, although doing so neglects his hobbies and friends and has a general aversion to girls. From that day on, Alan visits her every day with the ventriloquist puppet Charlie. Initially with little success, but after a few days he finds access to Naomi through his doll Charlie and her doll Yvette.

However, Alan does not tell Shaun about Naomi, fearing that he will lose him as a friend. After a while, Alan manages to speak to Naomi directly and without dolls after Alan's parents asked him to. It even happens that Naomi and her “new boyfriend” dare to take the street she hated and visit Holmes Airport, a disused airfield, and pilot Alan's model airplane. Since Alan wants to make her happy, he gives her the model airplane. Naomi is very happy about it and calls it "The Yellow Bird" (French: L'oiseau jaune ). Alan develops sympathies for Naomi.

When Shaun sees them on their way back, however, he breaks the friendship out of disappointment that Alan has not told him anything about it. Alan also learns the details of the murder of her father, who was in the Resistance and who drew city maps for her. When the Nazis tracked him down, he asked his daughter to tear up the city maps. Naomi did this until her hands were bleeding, but it wasn't enough and her father was killed. But now everything seems to be fine with Naomi and it looks like she has finally survived the shock of the violent death. She can even go to school with Alan, where she is pretty good and can solve even the most difficult math problems. So you succeed more and more in making progress.

But then a serious incident happens: when Alan and Naomi run into Joe Condello, Alan's greatest rival, Joe berates them with condescending anti-Semitic remarks against Naomi. Alan does not put up with that and fights with him. When Naomi sees the blood, she is reminded of her father's death again and runs away frightened. When Alan lies on the floor with bad injuries, Shaun appears and helps Alan to put Joe off. Now Shaun and Alan speak out and make up again.

A big search for Naomi begins, in which the Silvermans, the Liebmans, Mrs. Kirschenbaum and even Shaun take part.

Finally the caretaker named Finch finds Naomi in the coal cellar, covered from top to bottom with soot. She keeps repeating: "Bury the dead" (French: Enterrez les morts ) and must be admitted to psychiatry. Alan is desperate and longs to be with Naomi again. She was like a sister to him.

main characters

Naomi cherry tree

Naomi is a twelve-year-old Jewish girl who, as an eight-year-old child in France, had to watch her father being slain by the Nazis. After her mother and Naomi managed to flee to America and were taken in by their relatives, the Liebmans, Alan initially called them crazy. But when he has to take care of her, he first tries to communicate with her somehow. When the two then use Charlie and Yvette, two dolls, to communicate, Alan is told that Naomi shouldn't make herself dependent on the doll. Alan then tries to talk to her slowly and it works: Naomi and Alan develop a friendship.

Naomi trusts Alan very much, they play and do a lot together. Naomi is a very shy person due to the death of her father and cannot really show what she really is because she is very upset. As her life normalizes somewhat in the course of the novel, an incident occurs that reminds Naomi of her father's death again. Her condition worsens again and she no longer talks to anyone, just tearing up paper. At the end of the story, she is admitted to psychiatry.

Alan Silverman

Alan is a twelve and a half year old boy who lives in an apartment in Queens, New York with his parents. He is interested in model airplanes and batons. He has a sense of humor and willingly takes on Naomi's problem and helps her, albeit reluctantly at first. He is good at school, is helpful, hardworking and peaceful, but despite this, or precisely because he is like that, others at school call him a coward. His only friend is Shaun Kelly, who is naturally more confident and good at fighting. Shaun defends Alan against the others and protects him twice from Joe Condello in the book.

Alan seems to be exactly the right friend for Naomi, because he is sensitive and yet strong, has a sense of humor and yet shows the necessary seriousness and above all because he takes Naomi out of her trauma piece by piece with caution and discretion . Alan doesn't believe in himself and at first falls into despair in the face of his task, but finally he also realizes Naomi's transformation and becomes one of the most important people in her life, whose “loss” makes her fall back into even worse apathy . When he finally visits her in the mental hospital and she doesn't respond to his persuasion, he realizes that he has lost her forever. He runs crying onto the airfield, smashes his model airplane, the “Yellow Bird”, and screams for Naomi.

Shaun Kelly

Shaun Kelly is a twelve year old boy. He is strongly built, American of Irish descent and of Catholic faith. He's in the same class as Alan. His family is not wealthy and his father is used in the war. His hobbies include batting and soccer as well as building model aircraft. He seems reckless and speaks in a normal Art Nouveau style.

Alan Silverman is one of his friends, whom he supports in Chapters 1 and 4 in an aggressive (p. 7–9), helpful and tolerant manner (p. 10 ff). Alan and Shaun don't get along very well with Joe Condello, which is described in Chapters 1, 8, 11, 26, and 29. Chapter 6 shows that Shaun takes school lightly and likes to joke. In the 7th chapter he shows heart. Because under its hard shell there is a soft core (Chapter 24). You can also tell that he builds on friendship a lot. In chapters 29 and 30, Shaun proves very helpful in saving Alan from Joe Condello, and is not resentful of what happened in the previous chapters. Shaun leaps over his own shadow.

filming

The American director Sterling Van Wagenen filmed the youth book in 1992 with Lukas Haas in the character of Alan Silverman and Vanessa Zaoui as Naomi Kirschenbaum. In the film adaptation, however, the ending is toned down significantly, as Naomi, when Alan visits her in the psychiatric ward, leans on him and thus creates a basis of trust that is not present in the book.

Prizes and awards

expenditure

  • Myron Levoy: The Yellow Bird . DTV, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-423-07842-9 .
  • Myron Levoy: Alan and Naomi . Harper Today, New York 1991, ISBN 0-06-440209-6 .
  • Sandra Graunke: Myron Levoy, The Yellow Bird . Schöningh, Paderborn 2008, ISBN 978-3-14-022274-7 (school readings)
  • Rudolf Herfurtner: Secret Friends. Based on the book "The Yellow Bird" by Myron Levoy . Publishing house of the authors, Frankfurt / M. 1986.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gedenkenstättenpädagogik-bayern.de ( Memento of the original from October 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Article about the book (accessed January 24, 2011)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gedenkstaettenpaedagogik-bayern.de
  2. ↑ Video on mymovies.it (accessed October 16, 2011)
  3. ↑ Book Award Winners at the Jane Addams Peace Association (pdf).
  4. ^ Past Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winners at The Horn Book Magazine .
  5. ^ Alan and Naomi at the National Book Foundation.