#NEWTsreadathon2019 Astronomy (E) - Word 'night' in the book title or series name More info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq7vFHcngYs ( )

Decent, but forgettable. ( )

This author has written other books, on this subject, which would be more geared to adults, THIS would be enlightening and should be required reading for teens.
Edith was considered to be one of the lucky ones who was able to escape the horrors of WW2 and move to the U.S., part of a large group shipped here. Torn from the comfort of loved ones, homes, lives they knew and sent to an unknown land where an unknown language was spoken, and put in homes with unknown 'new family'.
To grow up with so many unanswered questions, to be so misunderstood was more psychologically damaging than realized at the time. Yes, lives were saved but as what mental cost? Yet better to live like this than to be taken by cattle cars to their deaths.
THIS book was written from Ediths point of view as a 10 year old and the following years. ( )

Based on the author's mother's experience traveling from Germany to the United States as part of the One Thousand Children project, this is the story of 12 year old Edith's voyage across the Atlantic and how she settles in to life in America. Edith must leave her small town to escape Hitler's army but her mother and father have to stay behind to take care of her grandmother who refuses to go. On the terrible trip across the ocean, Edith forms a bond with several other children but it is her love for Gerda that will last a lifetime. When they arrive in New York, she and Gerda must separate. Settling into her aunt and uncle's house in Chicago, the young girl finds herself treated as a servant. The little free time she has, she spends at the public library, following the career of the great Jewish ball player Hank Greenburg and worrying about her mother and father in Germany. While her family tries to raise enough money to send for her parents, Edith also struggles to fit in at school and American culture. Fern Chapman has written a beautiful story about what it must feel like to be a stranger in a new land. Readers will especially love the bonus chapters which recount the reunion of her mother and Gerda in their old age. This is a perfect historical fiction book for readers in 5th grade and above. ( )

Is It Night or Day? is a beautifully written and touching story for YA readers set during World War II. Fern Schumer Chapman tells mother's story of how she was sent to America by her parents to have her best chance at life. This novel is an excellent choice for students studying World War II, particularly because it brings to life America's One Thousand Children project; a virtually unheard of, but heroic and extraordinary humanitarian effort to save German children during the Nazi regime.

Edith's story, like all wartime stories, is tragic. But the story is told through the eyes of a little girl with hope, strength, and an inspiring resilience. The language and content is clean, though the novel does mention suicide. Edith's mother becomes depressed early in the novel and is caught by Edith stringing a rope in the attic. Ultimately, this is not how her mother dies, but this moment in the plot is a notable content flag.

Is It Night or Day? offers readers a unique view into the effects of the war on German and Jewish people. I very much enjoyed reading this novel and recommend it for both educational and personal uses. My copy of the book includes bonus material, including a discussion guide and a real story of how Edith and another emigrant child are reunited after the novel was published.

4 Stars ( )