The Circlemaker

By Maxine Rose Schur

Book Overview

In mid-nineteenth century Russia, Mendel Cholinsky, a twelve-year-old Jewish boy tries to escape to America to avoid being taken into the Czar's army for twenty-five years of military service.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803713541
• ISBN13: 9780803713543
• Release Date: February 1994
• Publisher: Dial Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

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.