Good Night, Mr. Tom | Good Night, Mr Tom

Good Night Mr. Tom | Good Night, Mr Tom | Michelle Magorian

books:


	• Good Night, Mr Tom Michelle Magorian Topeka Bindery, 1999 - 318 pages average customer review:based on 118 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

powerful story about family

Timid, scrawny, Willie Beech is the abused child of a single mother. She sends him to Mr. Tom, who lives in the English countryside, because London is being bombed by the Nazis.

The two main adults in this story, the mother and Mr. Tom, seem very similar in the beginning. Yet, by the end, we see that they are completely different. What really hit home was this: hard times can make hard people, but one's true colors shine through when faced with others in need.

Mr. Tom's gruff exterior is only his exterior. He's really got a warm heart, which he opens up to Willie and shows him the love that's supposed to be in a family.

The mother's quiet, strict exterior masks her bitter, mean nature. She has no love for her children, and abuses them in subtle, neglectful ways.

We don't actually see the abuse, we see the end result...which, in my opinion, is far more powerful. I cried for Willie at the end of this book, and cheered Mr. Tom for doing everything he could to save this poor boy. When children are old enough to understand the results of abuse, every family should read this book.

for more information click here

Good Night, Mr. Tom

"Good Night, Mr. Tom" puzzles me. When I read it objectively, looking only at the writing, it's not so impressive. The flow isn't particularly good and at times the book clunks along. The dialogue is engaging, though, and thoroughly real.

And the story itself is incredible. "Good Night, Mr. Tom" tells of a young London boy who is sent out to live in the country during World War II for his safety. There, away from an abusive home, Willie is able to grow and learn what it means to be loved.

With a series of remarkably realistic and fun characters, Willie (renamed Will in his new home with "Mr. Tom") moves and grows. Aspects of the book will make the reader cry (quite a few), aspects will chill you, but on the whole you will smile through your tears, because this book is just... special. It's got a very special feel to it, through tears and sad moments.

So while at times the story gets dull, it's an excellent book. I would recommend this to young teens, mostly because it deals with serious issues and might be a bit much for younger kids.

Definitely recommended.

for more information click here

Good Night Mr. Tom

I thought that this book was a very good book to read. I thought that it gave a lot of details and it was very interesting and exciting. This book was sort of hard to understand because Mr. Tom said different words funny. I really liked the part where Mr. Tom went over to London to try to find Will at his house. I also liked the part where Will was taken from his hospital bed and brought back to Mr. Tom's home. The ending left me hanging because at the end he said Dad I'm growing. I would give this book about five stars.

for more information click here

Excellent book....

This book is very intense but a good read. It is about evacuees from the London area because WWII was beginning. This particular town is painted different than most during this era. The people are nice and giving. If anyone does misuse the children they are put out for it! The major characters meet each other and both are not too sure of the other. It tells the story of a lost soul bringing healing to another lost soul. There are some intense and disgusting scenes but when you come out on the other side it is worth it! I don't recommend this book for anyone under the age of 12 or 13.

for more information click here

Amazing Stuff

I decided to read this book for seventh grade accellerated reader. This great piece of literature has quickly become one of my all time favorite books. I'm very hard to please when it comes to books. When you read this, you become so attached to every last character. It is truly amazing.

When Willie Beech is evacuated from London just prior to the outbreak of World War 11, he is sent to live in the relative safety of the English countryside. The abused child of a single mother, Willie is at first terrified of the unfamiliar country sounds and the huge farm animals of the village of Little Weirwold. But with the help of Mr. Tom, the old man with whom he is staying, Willie begins to take his first, timid steps into a world he had never imagined existed before -- a delightful world of dazzling country mornings and silent, starfilled night skies -- a world where friendship and affection are exchanged as easily as gifts -- a world where Willie need not be afraid that one false step will lead to sharp words, or beatings, or worse. Willie learns to read, and with the help of Zach, an original and lively friend, he learns to laugh.

Then a telegram arrives from Willie's mother in London, and he must return to a world of despair and hate which he now remembers only in bad dreams. Weeks pass by; when Mr. Tom hears nothing from Willie, he fears for the boy's safety and he sets out for London, to look for the child he has come to regard as a son....

With unflinching honesty and a commanding voice, Michelle Magorian has written a first novel of rare insight. A powerful exploration of human emotion which is at once unsentimental and deeply moving, Good Night, Mr. Tom is a book which, once read, will not be forgotten.

?A small, timid refugee from wartime London?and from a sadistic mother?and a lonely villager who has reluctantly accepted the child form a bond of love and trust that is deeply touching. Michelle Magorian has created a vivid cast for an English story with universal and timeless appeal.? ?Zena Sutherland, IRA Children?s Book Award Chair. ?An engrossing, vividly detailed novel.? ?BL.

Winner, 1982 International Reading Association Children's Book Award
Notable Children's Books of 1982 (ALA)
1982 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)
1983 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
1982 Young Adult Editors' Choices (BL)
1983 Teachers' Choices (NCTE)
Notable 1982 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
1988 Choices (Association of Booksellers for Children)
Children's Books of 1982 (Library of Congress)

for more information click here