Overview
It’s 1938, and twelve-year-old Edith is about to move from the tiny German village she’s lived in all her life to a place that seems as foreign as the moon: Chicago, Illinois. And she will be doing it alone. This dramatic and chilling novel about one girl’s escape from Hitler’s Germany was inspired by the experiences of the author’s mother, one of twelve hundred children rescued by Americans as part of the One Thousand Children project. Is It Night or Day? is a 2011 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Synopsis
It’s 1938, and twelve-year-old Edith is about to move from the tiny German village she’s lived in all her life to a place that seems as foreign as the moon: Chicago, Illinois. And she will be doing it alone. This dramatic and chilling novel about one girl’s escape from Hitler’s Germany was inspired by the experiences of the author’s mother, one of twelve hundred children rescued by Americans as part of the One Thousand Children project.
Publishers Weekly
Chapman, who wrote about her family's Holocaust ordeal in the adult book Motherland: Beyond the Holocaust, assumes the voice of her mother, Edith, who at age 12 is sent by her Jewish parents from increasingly anti-Semitic Germany to live in America with relatives. Edith's plaintive narration describes her father's mounting fear of the Nazis (“suddenly, we were filth, Jews polluting the village,”) and her mother's increasing detachment. The story of Edith's ocean voyage to America provides some light moments; without her parents around, Edith's fears and anxiety are always evident, but her interactions with other young Jewish emigrants are touchingly childlike, such as when they play hide-and-seek onboard. In Chicago, Edith is met by a disdainful aunt who treats her like a servant and classmates who keep their distance. Though her story reads more like a memoir than a novel, Chapman captures a plucky determination in Edith that readers will find endearing. There is no Cinderella ending for Edith, but the hope she finds in Jewish ballplayer Hank Greenberg and the honesty in her story make this historical fiction well worth reading. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Chapman, who wrote about her family's Holocaust ordeal in the adult book Motherland: Beyond the Holocaust, assumes the voice of her mother, Edith, who at age 12 is sent by her Jewish parents from increasingly anti-Semitic Germany to live in America with relatives. Edith's plaintive narration describes her father's mounting fear of the Nazis (“suddenly, we were filth, Jews polluting the village,”) and her mother's increasing detachment. The story of Edith's ocean voyage to America provides some light moments; without her parents around, Edith's fears and anxiety are always evident, but her interactions with other young Jewish emigrants are touchingly childlike, such as when they play hide-and-seek onboard. In Chicago, Edith is met by a disdainful aunt who treats her like a servant and classmates who keep their distance. Though her story reads more like a memoir than a novel, Chapman captures a plucky determination in Edith that readers will find endearing. There is no Cinderella ending for Edith, but the hope she finds in Jewish ballplayer Hank Greenberg and the honesty in her story make this historical fiction well worth reading. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)From the Publisher
"This book is an exceptional story of survival and devotion to homeland....This is a wonderful study of the Holocaust in a way that young readers will understand. Highly Recommended." Library Media Connection [STARRED]
"This empathetic historical novel rings with authenticity.” —Kirkus
“In Edith’s bewildered, sad, angry voice, the words are eloquent and powerful... As with the best writing, the specifics about life as a young immigrant are universal…” —Booklist [STARRED]
...Chapman captures a plucky determination in Edith that readers will find endearing. There is no Cinderella ending for Edith, but the hope she finds in Jewish ballplayer Hank Greenberg and the honesty in her story make this historical fiction well worth reading.” —Publishers Weekly