BOOK REVIEWS

Title: Is It Night or Day?

Author: Fern Schumer Chapman

This spare, well-written historical novel teems with universal themes... Sometimes heartbreaking, always eloquent, this is a fascinating look at one girl's narrow escape from Nazi Germany..."

Education.com

"This is a superb addition to any Holocaust or American History collection. Students will be moved by Edith's story."

Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

" ... eloquent and powerful... As with the best writing, the specifics about life as a young immigrant are universal..."

Booklist starred review

"exceptional story of survival and devotion to homeland"

starred review, Library Media Connection

"rings with authenticity...Moving!"

Kirkus Reviews

"Is It Night or Day? by Fern Schumer Chapman, tells the story of Edith Westerfeld, a 12-year-old Jewish girl whose parents send her, alone, to the United States in 1938 to escape the Nazis. Told in Edith's voice, the novel captures both the specific fears of a child fleeing the Holocaust and the more general experiences of immigrants adjusting to life in a new country. It's easy to identify with Edith's loneliness and loss. Her story puts a human face on one way that Jewish children survived the Nazis."

The Crimson Review of Children's and Young Adult Literature (University of Alabama's School of Library and Information Studies)

"...This heart-wrenching novel is based on the true life events of the author's mother and a little known American rescue organization called 'the One Thousand Children.' It joins books such as The Diary of Anne Frank and Number the Stars as a must-read for upper elementary students.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's magazine, Teaching Tolerance, which named Is It Night or Day? as a "Teaching Tool" in its Spring, 2011 issuestudying World War II."