Good Night, Maman [Hardcover]

Norma Fox Mazer (Author), Wade Huntsman (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Karin Levi’s world of family, school, and friends is torn apart when the German army occupies Paris in June of 1940. Karin and her brother, Marc, like Jews all over Europe, find themselves on the run, seeking safety wherever they can find it. When Marc obtains two coveted places aboard a ship bound for the United States, Karin knows that crossing the ocean means she may never see her beloved parents again. Yet she and Marc have little choice if they are to survive. Karin’s unforgettable story--revealing the little-known world of a handful of European refugees in World War II America--tells of survival, of growing up, and of love’s ability to endure even the most extraordinary circumstances.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Young readers who have loved and mourned Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl may take solace in the more hopeful ending of Good Night, Maman, Norma Fox Mazer's tender story of a brother and sister's escape from the Holocaust. Like all Jews in France during World War II, Karin and her older brother Marc are on the run from the Nazis. At first the siblings and their strong and gentle mother hide for more than a year in a tiny storage closet in a neighbor's house. But when the Jew Searches are intensified, they must leave, traveling on foot and only at night. At last Karin and Marc are lucky enough to find places on a ship bound for the United States, but Maman is too ill for the journey and must stay behind. At the refugee camp in Oswego, New York, Karin takes comfort in writing unmailed letter after letter to her mother, as she and Marc struggle to adjust to a new country, a new language, and each other's changing needs. Marc finally reveals that Maman is dead, a sad fact he has kept to himself to shelter his sister--to allow her to increase her own strength with the support of her mother's remembered presence.

Mazer based her novel on historical fact--the camp at Fort Ontario in Oswego was the only official shelter offered to European Jews by the United States. For a contrasting treatment of this same setting, teens will want to read Two Suns in the Sky, by Miriam Bat-Ami. (Ages 10 to 14) --Patty Campbell

From Publishers Weekly

This story of a WWII French-Jewish refugee suggests the grimness of the era without becoming too formidable for young readers to ingest. Indicating, but not dwelling upon her heroine's suffering, Mazer (When She Was Good) traces the 12-year-old's arduous journey to freedom. The Nazis have sent Karin's father to Poland, and the rest of the family lives in hiding in a French woman's attic. Soon, however, the arrangement becomes too dangerous and Karin, her older brother and their mother are forced to flee south. Maman falls ill and is unable to complete the journey; the children regretfully continue on their own, eventually gaining passage on a ship to America. The second half of the novel takes place in the same refugee camp in Oswego, N.Y., that served as the setting for Miriam Bat-Ami's Two Suns in the Sky (Children's Forecasts, May 17). While Bat-Ami's portrayal of the refugee camp has more depth, Mazer's writing is more fluid. Karin and her brother, Marc, struggle to overcome homesickness and begin a new life. Karin gradually lets go of the past, finally realizing that she will never see her beloved Maman again. The issues are somewhat neatened for the sake of young readers; this story may serve as an introduction to the Holocaust and its effect on survivors, but doesn't have the impact of other titles in this genre. Ages 10-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (September 20, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152014683
• ISBN-13: 978-0152014681
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,748,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

NORMA FOX MAZER is the award-winning author of many novels for young people. She has been honored with the Christopher Award, a Newbery Honor, the Edgar Allen Poe Award, and a National Book Award nomination. She and her husband, novelist Harry Mazer, divide their time between Jamesville, New York, and New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Night Maman- A Book For All, November 12, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Good Night, Maman (Harper Trophy Books) (Paperback)

Books are very important to me. I love to read them and unleash their knowledge. I especially like fiction books on olden times. From the Holocaust, the Civil War, and subjects like that. They teach me about life before me, and high and low points of history. One example of these books is one that I just finished reading entitled, Good Night Maman. The book is a Holocaust story, and I enjoyed it a lot. It was a great book, and I really enjoyed the time period story line and characters of this story.
One reason that I really enjoyed the time period of this book is because I think the Holocaust is very interesting to learn about. It shows, and teaches me how awful those years were, and how brave the Jewish people were to have the will to survive those dark years. Secondly, in the book, I was taught things that I never knew happened in the Holocaust. Never was I aware that people escaped Europe on boats to come and be safe in American refugee camps. Finally, this book taught me to always respect your family. The main character in the book had her brother in life, and that was all, so she needed to learn to respect the only family that she had. This book taught me things teachers could never explain to me. My level of knowledge on this point in world history has expanded because of this book.
In many of the Holocaust books that I read, the story line is always the same. Thw people go into hiding, get caught by the Nazis and go to a concentration camp. However, as I read on into the book, I was very pleased to know that the same old story line would not be used in this story. Instead, the brother and sister, Marc and Karin, are forced to leave France without their mother, and get on a boat and head to an American refugee camp. Now, when I realized that this was indeed going to happen, I couldn't believe it. I kept yearning to read more, and fine out where the strang plot would take me next. Furthermore, I think that this new and interesting story line is what made me not want to put the book down.
I also enjoyed the two main characters in the book very much. 12-year-old Karin, and her older, 14-year-old brother Marc, are described in the book at very strong, and I admire that greatly. Those two had the courage to leave behind their sick mother in France and travel all alone across a big ocean to a place they had never seen and start a new life. I think that shows that the author wanted to relate her fictional characters to the real life victims of the Holocaust who were also strong and brave. Even when it seemed the two would never see their mother again, they stayed strong, learned English, and created a wonderful life for themselves. Throughout the book, I often grew jealous of these two characters. I wished myself to be just as strong and brave as they were. Even though I know they weren't real people, I still admired their courage.
I enjoyed this book a lot, mostly because of the way the time period, characters, and story line all appealed to my liking. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about the Holocaust. Also, the book has a nice flow, and is easy to follow. In other Holocaust books, many characters are introduced,and it gets confusing. That doesn't happen in this book thought so don't worry. The book really lets you know how hard it was for people who suffered in the Holocaust. In conclusion, it is a great book to which I give two thumbs up and would totally recommend it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Realistic.. Easy Read!, March 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Good Night, Maman (Hardcover)

The characters are easy to realate to. As you are reading you feel like you are really experiencing the events that happen. When you start reading it you can't set the book down. Then, when you finish reading it you feel like you have lost a good friend. It's a must read!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Night Maman, January 26, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Good Night, Maman (Hardcover)

Good Night Maman is a historical fiction novel about a young girl fighting for her life in th German War. Young Karin Levi, travels through Venice, Italy and many other countries. While travelingshe finds a girl who tells her there is a ship leaving for America taking refugees. karin and her brother Marc, eventually arrie to the ship, as they et sail to America. Karin mees many boys and girls her age while visiting America.
Norma Fox Mazer is an exquisit author that I would probably recommendfor children i grades 6-8. This bok contains good details to help you visualize the truths of all the lives taken, by the Nazi's in the German War. I like this book because, it is very exciting ad is quite an exciting and yet suspenseful tory, that i couldn't put down.