Prisoner B-3087

Prisoner B-3087

By Alan Gratz, Ruth Gruener, Jack Gruener

29 ratings 32 reviews 42 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 6 - 8Grades 3 - 5n/a4.945937
10 concentration camps.

10 different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly.

It's something no one could imagine surviving.

But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face.

As a Jewish boy in 1930s Poland, Yanek is at the mercy of the Nazis who have taken over. Everything he has, and everyone he loves, have been snatched brutally from him. And then Yanek himself is taken prisoner -- his arm tattooed with the words PRISONER B-3087.

He is forced from one nightmarish concentration camp to another, as World War II rages all around him. He encounters evil he could have never imagined, but also sees surprising glimpses of hope amid the horror. He just barely escapes death, only to confront it again seconds later.

Can Yanek make it through the terror without losing his hope, his will -- and, most of all, his sense of who he really is inside?


Based on an astonishing true story.
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN-13: 9780545459013
ISBN-10: 054545901X
Published on 3/1/2013
Binding: Hardcover
Number of pages: 272

Book Reviews (31)

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Austin Austin

this book was a book was the first book that I wanted to keep reading and pick it back up again. It really puts the Holocaust into perspective for me. When o read this book I feel bad because I am sitting in a cozy bed with food and a family, and now knowing that all of these poor people didn't have any of that.

This book is amazing it puts the holocaust into perspective and gives you a new appreciation for everything you have by seeing what happens to Jack when it is stripped away. This is not only a book that I think you should read, but one that you need to read.

Sage Sage

This was an amazing book. It really helped me understand and get a little bit of how he felt in these concentration camps.

Mr.Ricky Mr.Ricky

BEST BOOK AROUND TOWN BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I read this in the summer before I went into 7th Grade and I thought it was pretty much the best book EVER! I almost cried but I couldn't let myself because I was in the car with my mom... yes, I downed it in a single 2-hour sitting and needed more of it afterwards. Something about me likes books that are really sad/suspenseful/heart-breaking/intense... Yeah, this book is INTENSE! It really made me think just how terrible it would have been to be in a concentration camp and how cruel they were... I mean, people just died around the poor kid all the time. A couple times, the Jews had to slap their caps against their thighs... Some of the Jews that did it didn't slap against their thighs hard enough to make the "right noise" and they shot them down on the spot! It's terrible, really, when you think about it. However, I think it was perfect how the author set up the exposition with Yanek and his family and the strong, passionate relationship between them; I enjoyed the suspense of them hiding for months before they were actually found (yes, spoiler alert). And as Yanek has to go through the torture him and his fellow Jews have to face, he has one hope that keeps him going... his family and the hope of seeing thing again. Will this ever come true? Will he even make it out alive? Will they?

alivsae alivsae

This book was soooo GOOD! I'm really interested in Holocaust books (for some strange reason). I loved how it followed Yanek through all the different camps. It was a real humbling book knowing that these people had to go through these rough times.

Prisoner B-3087 is an amazing book! I loved it, I have read over 6 times and it is a book that you won't want to put down! This book shows that you be selfish about the things you have because you never know when you can lose those things. This book is about a boy named Yanek. He is Jewish and is growing up during World War II. Yanek and his family hide as best as they can but one day his family is pulled off of the streets to be sent to concentration camps. One day Yanek is pulled off of the streets after his work detail is closed and he is sent to the nearest concentration camp. Yanek discoveres the horrors of the camps, Yanek finds that he is the last in his family to be alive and he makes it priority one to stay alive. Yanek is sent from camp to camp only to be on the edge of death and to see others dying right before his eyes. They are gassed to death or hung for just being Jewish, they had commit no crime except that they were Jewish. This book will send you into tears. This book is very meaningful as it shows just how fast things you love can be taken away from you and that you should treasure what you have. I recommend this book for 5th to 8th graders but it really depends on what level you are at. I read in 3rd grade. Every one should read this book. It will touch your heart.

This book Prisoner B-3087 is an amazing book with full of determination! This book is based on a true story! This book can let you realised that if you never give up then even you encounter impossibles situations eventually you will overcome it. From this story I learned about life lesson, your life might be miserable and had no hope but if you never give up and has a strong mind at the end you will succeed. This book really touched my heart,this book is basically about a boy named Yanke, he is a Jewish, at that time the Nazis have control most of Europe . Everything he have and everyone he love is taken away from him. Yanke himself has became a prisoner and he has a number (B-3087) tattooed on his wrist. Yanke trying to get his family out of the concentration camp and also get him self out of the living hell, because in the concentration camp he is destiny to face to death by anytime. He is trying to survive thought the concentration camp. I personally think this book brings me and teaches me and also help me understand same important lessons in my personal life, I am struggling on my grade, because I didn't have the mind of determination, I am kind of giving up, but from this book I've seen this whole thing differently and make my mind to do the impossible to improve myself. I would say this story have clearly stated the struggles of the people to survive in the concentration camp, I can feel like I am in the concentration camp and have the a big problem to be resolved.I need the determination and strength to overcome my problems instead of escaping from them. The book is writhed in a very special way with advance word choice, the content of the book, the story structure of the whole story and with the simple sentences to bring and shows out the whole idea of this book. I recommend this book for 6th to 8th graders!

Prisoner B-3087 is an amazing book full of determination! This book will get you to realize the right for freedom. Everyone will want to be like Yanek when they read this book because he is determined,full of heart, and strong. This is a story of surviving and chasing your biggest dreams!

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