I really enjoyed this book. Piri, the main character, is a young girl who lives in Hungary with her family in WWII. Her family consists of her mother, 2 sisters and her brother. Her father is off at war, fighting in favor of the Germans. Piri and her family are Jewish. If you have studied the war you know that the Germans (Nazi) were against Jews and wanted to kill them all. This is a novel about the hardships of Piri and her family.

After many years of using The Diary of Ann Frank, teachers now have a chance to use an equally exciting book by Aranka Seigal, Upon the Head of the Goat. This book describes the trials and tribulations in the life of Piri Davidowitz, a young Hungarian girl of the Jewish faith, during the terrible years of World War II. Piri is unusual in that her grandmother lives in Ukraine, her father is from Czechoslovakia, and her mother is Hungarian. This book allows teachers and students to study the Holocaust and the geography of the region and cover the national standards in geography, history, and language arts. Students will learn about Piri and the hardships she and her family suffer, and they will discover that like many people of the Jewish faith, Piri and her family are sent to a concentration camp. Piri's life slowly desintegrates as Jews receive more and more restrictions with the coming of the Arrow Cross, the Hungarian fascist group, to power in Hungary. As more restrictions come into play, Piri loses friends and family, chances for education, and freedom. Students will enjoy the suspense that is in the novel and will learn a valuable lesson on the Holocaust.

A powerful story about a family in the grip of Nazi Gremany. So moving, I was glad it was a novel. The pain of seeing family members brutalized by the German soldiers is something I wish our young people could understand the privelges they have. Recommed this work

Upon The head of a Goat Written By aranka Siegal is an stroy about a young girlgrowing up in Hungary during world war ll. It is hard enough for her to grow up unable to see her family, but she has more troubles because she is Jewish. Piri, a nine year old girl, has been visiting her grandmother in Komjaty for a year and she in finally able to return home. When she returns home there have been many changes. Her family has a hard life. They were sent to a Ghetto later to be sent to Auschwitz. An terrible concentration camp. What will happen to Piri and her family when they arrive in Auschwitz? I recommend this book because you really get the feel of how hard this young girl had it growing up.

I read this book last year at Chelsea Public school and just being able to talk to Aranka about her experience was really neat, it made me think alot about how peole were treated and that they shouldnt have been treatedthat way. The book did alot for me, and it made me feel very upset the way that things happend

HAVING AVOIDING STORYS ON THE HOLOCAUST AFTER SEEING THE NUREMBURG TRIALS AS A YOUNG CHILD, AND BEING TREMDOUSLY DISTURBED BY IT, I READ IT FIRST, AS MY 12 YEAR OLD SON WAS ASSIGNED TO READ THIS BOOK. IT WAS A GREAT TRUE STORY, SAD BUT HAPPY, ONLY AFTER FOLLOWING HER, PIRI DAVIDSON, FOR 3 YEARS, I NEVER FOUND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HER ONCE SHE ARRIVED IN AMERICA.

I just finished reading this book and enjoyed, though I did skim some parts that moved a little slowly. Overall, it is an excellent, intimate portrait of a young womans thoughts and concerns after leaving a concentration camp in WWII. It has issues universal to all-- growing up, loyalty yet resentment of an older siblings care, letting go, beginning again, love vs attraction. It also has some thoughts about being a surviver and a Jew and what it would mean to leave her Jewish life behind now that she survived the Nazis...

Other reviews by young adults suggest there is no action and that it is boring, but they are missing the true meaning. This book stirs up emotion that makes you want to reach into the pages to help Piri. It makes you want to help like the Rantzows, and you hope there are more people like the Rantzows in our own society. Very moving.