
Reach for this book when your child is starting to ask complex questions about why people suffer, or when they need to understand how patience and unconventional friendship can help heal deep emotional wounds. Set in 1944 Brooklyn, the story follows Alan, a boy who reluctantly agrees to help Naomi, a young refugee who has stopped speaking after witnessing Nazi brutality. Through the use of a ventriloquist puppet, Alan slowly builds a bridge to her world. This is a deeply moving exploration of empathy and the long road to recovery from trauma. While it deals with the heavy historical reality of the Holocaust, it focuses on the personal, day-to-day work of being a true friend. It is best suited for mature middle schoolers who are ready for a realistic, bittersweet ending that honors the complexity of mental health rather than offering easy answers.
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Sign in to write a reviewDescriptions of Nazi brutality (off-page but recalled) and a street fight involving bullies.
Antisemitic slurs used by neighborhood bullies in historical context.
Naomi's flashbacks and fearful episodes may be intense for sensitive readers.
The book deals directly with the psychological trauma of the Holocaust. The approach is realistic and stark. It addresses antisemitism and the physical manifestations of PTSD (mutism, fear). The resolution is notoriously realistic and ambiguous, steering clear of 'happily ever after' tropes to show that healing is not linear.
A thoughtful 12-year-old who is interested in history and has a high degree of empathy. This is for the child who wonders how they can help a peer who seems 'different' or 'broken' and needs to learn that friendship isn't always easy or rewarded.
Parents should preview the final chapters. The incident involving the neighborhood bully and Naomi's subsequent regression can be upsetting. It requires a conversation about how we cannot always control the outcomes for others. A parent might notice their child struggling to understand a classmate with special needs or social withdrawal, or perhaps the child has expressed frustration that being kind didn't 'fix' a situation immediately.
Younger readers (10) focus on the puppet and the friendship. Older readers (13-14) will grasp the historical weight, the systemic antisemitism, and the tragic nature of the ending.
Unlike many historical novels that provide closure, this book is unique for its refusal to provide a tidy ending, offering instead a profound lesson on the limits of friendship and the reality of mental illness.
Alan Silverman is a typical Brooklyn teenager in the 1940s, more interested in stickball than anything else. His life is interrupted when his parents ask him to spend time with Naomi, a neighbor's daughter and a French refugee who witnessed her father's murder by the Gestapo. Naomi is catatonic and fearful, but Alan discovers he can communicate with her through his Charlie McCarthy puppet. Their friendship blossoms into a deep bond, but the reality of the world and a sudden act of violence threaten to undo all their progress.
This overview was generated by AI based on the book's content and reviews, and may not capture every nuance.