The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender was one of the saddest books I have read. Although I read this in eight grade, I will always remember the hardships Riva and her family went through. Riva grew up during the time of the Holocaust where it was a struggle for families to survive from day to day. This book not only showed the pain and sorrow families went through by having to split up and leave each other, it also showed family and friend betrayal, for example the Grubers. Riva grew up with her mother and two brothers. After her mother was taken away by Nazi soldiers, Riva became the mother figure and adopted her two brothers.Riva had to watch one brother die and was separated by her other brother for eternity. One thing that keeps Riva alive is the poetry she writes. The Cage is not filled with the gory images we see later on about the Holocaust, but it does remind us of the struggles that faced all families in the Holocaust. I recommend all teenagers read this book because it is a good introduction to the emotions behind the killing and the hardships faced by many Jewish families.

I thought it was a good book. I'm assuming it's a memoir of the author's life (once I read her biography on Wikipedia). This book sounds vaguely familiar and I believe I have read it before a long time ago but nevertheless I thought I might as well read it again. It's a small book with less than 200 pages and I was so interested and engrossed in it that it took me several hours to finish it. I wanted to keep reading to see what would happen next, I wanted to know how she managed to survive through the entire ordeal and still manage to keep hoping and to keep living. Riva is one of the most strongest characters I have ever read so far.

I admired Riva for having to take care of her brothers through the hardships of living in the ghetto. Then having to be forcefully separated, she had to survive on her own and she never lost hope. It's as if she drew strength from losing her mother to give her the will to stay alive. Although the situation was always bleak and survival is never guaranteed, it was amazing to see how Riva managed to continue to hope even in the face of this kind of adversity.

There were a few things with this novel that I did not quite agree with. First I noticed it's somewhat catered to children and I sort of have to wonder about that. I realized children should be taught about this moment in history but I think this book really should be catered towards teens as this story surrounded Riva in her teenage years. It just seems to make more sense. Also, I found the flow of the narration to be a little jumpy throughout the first half of the book. It was first one major event then it just skips directly to another there wasn't real flow to put the two together into one smooth transition, it felt almost as if it was the writing was rather haphazard.

Overall though, a touching Holocaust story and not one to be missed. The story tells you that without hope, there really is nothing to live for and it's a lesson to learn for everyone in future generations to come. ( )

I am a person that said "omg i do not want to read about the haulost. But believe me, IT IS REALLY GOOD... it is very sad to. ( )

A young girl is taken captive during the the time that Jews were being sent to the concentration camps. Ruth was taken to the camp and became somewhat of a survival tool. Ruth wrote poetry on scraps of paper and shared them with her bunk mates. Many counted on this to survive the awfulness of the camp. When Ruth got sick a German guard convinced the warden to allow her to take Ruth to the doctor. Ruth was nursed back to health and was able to survive the camp experience and was eventually freed. World War 2 study novel. Use with the unit when we read books about the holocaust and the effects of the war