When She Was Good [Hardcover]

Norma Fox Mazer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997

Presenting Newbery Honor author Norma Fox Mazer's unforgettable survivor tale of how hope outlives brutality. Em Thurkill, a girl full of sweetness in a life of almost unbearable pain, is at the center of Mazer's heartbreaking, mesmerizing, and ultimately uplifting story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After years of abuse from her mentally ill older sister, a girl gingerly takes her first steps toward liberation when her tormentor dies. PW's starred review called the novel "heart-wrenching." Ages 12-up. (Jan.) n
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up. A taut, introspective narrative in which Em is worn down by years of physical and emotional abuse from her sister. Hope comes with the teen's eventual realization that she will emerge intact.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books; 1st edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590135066
• ISBN-13: 978-0590135061
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,512,948 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

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stark, September 3, 2004

By 

Brandon "unraveling the mystery" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When She Was Good (Mass Market Paperback)

I read this book in just a few hours. The main character (Em) just grabbed me and I couldn't help but keep reading. The book is written in a rather spontaneous way, bouncing between Em's inner thoughts, dialogue, and narration. Though a bit hard to follow, at times, this writing style allows the reader to really feel for Em.

This book is depressing and sad right from the first page. I found myself actually hoping the main character would give up. It was almost painful to read about Em's endless string of dissapointments. Day after day Em goes through the same routine. Where she finds hope is a mystery, but she finds it and she holds onto it.

What I like about this book is the 'realness' of it. Em is a believeable and pitiful character. Her situations are as likely as the sun rising. This is the story of someone who never had anything and never really finds anything. Again, I was almost hoping to read about how Em gave up or was killed or killed herself or was somehow taken out of her miserable life. But Em just keeps on living, her reasons known only to her.

I would certainly recommend this book, it is gripping. But be warned that this is not a happy story, not at the beginning and not at the end.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent piece of writing, October 26, 2001

By 

"i_gotta_crow" (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When She Was Good (Mass Market Paperback)

"When She was Good" by Norma Fox Mazer is one of my all-time favorites.The reader is truly made to sympathize with Em, and really wants things to be okay for her. I'm afraid I don't understand where people are coming from when they say this book was too depressing for young adults. It is a very real displayal of the physical and emotional abuse suffered by this remarkable heroine. Em is put through so much in this book, but there always seems to be a sense of hope, however small. She learns and grows in a harsh cruel world with a violent sister and an unforgiving society. Norma Fox Mazer is amzing. This book is kept in my mind always and it has affected how I live from day-to-day. There is one passage in which Mazer talks about baby feet, and how everyone, every last human being, once had baby feet. It is pointed out that if we all had baby feet, chubby, naked, perfect little feet, how different can we really be? This book is magnificent and I STRONGLY reccomend it to anyone.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant..., November 10, 2003

By 

"hippie_dreamer" (VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When She Was Good (Mass Market Paperback)

This story left me in tears. Amazing.. just amazing

Em, the main character, was brought into this world by an alcoholic father and a mother suffering from depression. Alongside with these two influences Em has a sister, Pamela, who suffers from major emotional problems herself. Her mother, kind in mind, was the only one who Em really had a deep compassion for. Her father would come home drunk and beat both Pamela, Em, and the mother.

When her mother dies, Em and Pamela are left destroyed. Shortly after her death the father remarries. His drinking stops, but it leaves Em questioning just why her father wouldn't stop drinking for their mother. Pamela and Em resesnt him and his new wife, Sally. As teenagers Pamela and Em run away. Pamela and Em go through many tough times living on their own. Pamela is abusive and psychologically draining to Em. Although Pamela displays so many bad traits, Em does love her.

Pamela dies at a young age and leaves Em alone in the world. Em is only 18 and has nothing and no one. SHe is haunted by Pamela's memory, and this holds her down throughout her life. The novel focuses on the regaining of strength from Em.