Rating: 
Summary: An Enchanting Musical and Historical Journey
Review: Ms. Golabek, who has given so much of herself in her wonderful radio show "The Romantic Hours", now gives us something more. She brings us the story of her mother, Lisa Jura, a piano prodigy forced to flee from Continental Europe to England to escape the Nazis to England. Lisa's own odyssey of love and a reconfirmation of her musical talents and Jewish roots, is a wonderful story of the discovery of a person's life lived to the fullest extent of her gifts, and of art and love's ultimate triumph over the darkest era in human history. Ms. Golabek writes remarkably well, and the love and honor she bears for her mother's story shines through in every word.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly Inspirational
Review: The Children of Willesden Lane is a compelling story about a Jewish girl growing up in a country overtaken by Hitler during World War Two. The Jura family, being allowed to send only one child to England on the Kindertransport, sent Lisa knowing that her musical talent would ensure her survival. When all is going wrong, and it seems as though she has nothing left to hold on to, Lisa lets all her feelings go through her music and holds on to her abilities.
This book never let me take my own musical talents for granted. Being a pianist myself, I have learned to really appreciate music for all it is worth. Many books have slow beginnings, but The Children of Willesden Lane was full of excitement from beginning to end. I recommed this book to anyone with any kind of passion. Through this book you will see what can come of your talents, no matter what is going on around you in your life. It will most certainly help you to fully understand the amazing power of music.
Rating:
Summary: Remarkable!
Review: The Children of Willesden Lane is a remarkable, transporting story, at once upllifting and heartbreaking. I'm a better person for reading it. The authors' flawless narrative style facilitates a "can't put the book down" memoir read. After grabbing their readers' hearts, Golabek and Cohen seize their readers' minds with a cogent, compassionate, and otherworldly understanding of the intricacies of living a life in music, and its accordant near-mystical ability to bring humanity as close as it can get to the divine. Such are Golabek's and Cohen's gifts that one can almost hear the music coming from the pages of The Children of Willisden Lane. I loved this book. It is a gift.
Rating:
Summary: An Inspiring Tale of Courage and Love
Review: The Children of Willseden Lane is a motivational piece of literature about a young woman, Lisa, who dared to dream and made that dream a reality. Her daughter, Mona Golabek, wrote this memoir on her mother's wondrous gift of playing the piano. Lisa spent all her life in Vienna, Austria before the Nazis invaded causing her to be sent to London on the Kindertransport leaving her heartbroken parents and two sisters behind. She was sent to a hostel on Willesden Lane where she lived with thirty other Jewish children for the duration of World War II. She felt a sense of comfort right away because these children were dealing with the same loneliness, and Lisa became part of the big family. The would have a special bond which would stay with all of them forever because they would spend most nights huddled together in a bomb shelter fleeing the late night bombings. As soon as her matron, Ms. Cohen, realized that she had a prodigy living under her roof, she did everything in her power to help Lisa achieve her goal. Before long, everyone in the hostel was encouraging her to become a pianist and begged her to play for them every night after dinner. After much hard work, Lisa was accepted into an elite music school, which proved that anything was possible. The children became motivated and were given a sense of hope that they too could "make something of themselves". After the war was over, she was reunited with her two sisters and learned that her parents were sent to a death camp. Lisa became even more motivated to continue with her musical talents so that she would always play for her mother as a tribute for their shared love of music.
Rating:
Summary: An Inspiring Tale of Courage and Love
Review: The Children of Willseden Lane is a motivational piece of literature about a young woman, Lisa, who dared to dream and made that dream a reality. Her daughter, Mona Golabek, wrote this memoir on her mother's wondrous gift of playing the piano. Lisa spent all her life in Vienna, Austria before the Nazis invaded causing her to be sent to London on the Kindertransport leaving her heartbroken parents and two sisters behind. She was sent to a hostel on Willesden Lane where she lived with thirty other Jewish children for the duration of World War II. She felt a sense of comfort right away because these children were dealing with the same loneliness, and Lisa became part of the big family. The would have a special bond which would stay with all of them forever because they would spend most nights huddled together in a bomb shelter fleeing the late night bombings. As soon as her matron, Ms. Cohen, realized that she had a prodigy living under her roof, she did everything in her power to help Lisa achieve her goal. Before long, everyone in the hostel was encouraging her to become a pianist and begged her to play for them every night after dinner. After much hard work, Lisa was accepted into an elite music school, which proved that anything was possible. The children became motivated and were given a sense of hope that they too could "make something of themselves". After the war was over, she was reunited with her two sisters and learned that her parents were sent to a death camp. Lisa became even more motivated to continue with her musical talents so that she would always play for her mother as a tribute for their shared love of music.
Rating:
Summary: Next: The Movie
Review: There is a movie in this book's future -- or at least there should be. As one who normally ignores the biographical "bite" genera, I was very surprised at my inability to put "Children" down. There is a stealth hook to this story, one that inspires by helping us put our own problems into perspective and goads us to try harder. It is sweet without being sloppy; sure without being arrogant; certain without being too predictable. Golabek and Cohen have created a song in this book that is both primeval and polished, a moving tale many chapters of which could have expanded into books themselves. Richly rewarding. Somebody give us the movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Good story, mediocre writing.
Review: This book is certainly a heartrending tale of one young girl's triumph as a jewish refugee in WW2, but I found the narrative too simple and wooden. Worth the read, but serves more as a historical vignette.
Rating:
Summary: a grand & hopefilled read!
Review: This is a Heroine's journey during time of war. From Vienna, the city of music, to a little house outside London, where Lisa Jura will find safety & a piano where she can continue her mother's legacy.It is the memories of the descent into the hell that Adolph Hitler visited upon the people of Europe, upon the life of one girl with a huge talent & a family who sent her away that she might survive. It is memories of danger & death, as well as hope & the goodness in people's hearts, & how a dream made a girl brave & true to her heritage. THE CHILDREN OF WILLESDEN LANE is passionate, engaging & charming, destined to find its place beside THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK.
Rating:
Summary: The Children of Willesden Lane: A Story for Children
Review: To be young, beautiful and talented: It is a dream held by most young women. But for Lisa Jura, a 14 year-old jewish girl living in a Hitler-dominated Germany, it isn't a dream. Her talent for the pianoforte and her beauty became a tool for survival. At fourteen, Lisa has already experienced more than her peers, and has seen enough to make any adult cringe. When her parents arranged for her, and only her, to travel to England aboard the Kindertransport because of her ability, the reader finds it hard to believe that she remained mentally stable. This is mainly due to the fact that she is an actual person, and she survived to tell her story. The simple and straightforward "Children of Willesden Lane" is authored by Lisa Jura's daughter, who felt inspired enough to write a 272-page account of the child refugee's life-changing stay in London during World War II. However, the simple prose was a far cry from this reviewer's previously read novels such as "The Scarlet Letter". Miss Golabeck's account of her mother's life is most likely suited for a younger audience because of its simplistic diction. That's not to say that the story wasn't compelling, because it was a very heart-warming story and will be recomended to all who need a break from the Hawthorne's out there.
Rating:
Summary: New point of view
Review: What a wonderful, touching, inspiring story. I appreciate this book for a number of reasons. It's the first story I've read concerning a Jewish child who was not put through a concentration camp. I was intrigued to see what her life was like in England, how they worked and lived, and how so many people were so helpful and went out of their way to save these children. It's easy reading and would also be great for a younger child since it doesn't contain any violence.
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