Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian is a wonderful book. I LOVED it. I read it before--I was in 8th or 9th grade. My teacher had it on her shelf and I borrowed it from her. At the time I also read Back Home, written by the same author. They were both written about WWII and children who were sent as evacuees from the big cities. I remember enjoying both of them immensely.
The second read through was as good as the first, though I'm sure I caught more of the meaning. The book starts with Mr. Tom Oakley hearing knocks on the door. He opens it to find a woman with a bunch of children. The woman was someone from the war department or something like that. War with Germany was imminent. Children from the big cities (particularly London) were being evacuated to the country side so when the bombing started, the children would be safe. Families in the country were to take in as many of the children as they could. Mr. Oakley was no exception, though he was an older man who lived alone. He had to take in a child. The boy was pretty much thrust onto him.
The first thing Mr. Tom noticed was a bruise on the boy (Will/Willie/William--he get's called all of them in the book). Mr. Tom soon discovers the Willie had been beaten by his mother. His mother even sent a belt with a hefty buckle with him so that whoever took him in could continue. Gentle hearted Mr. Tom couldn't and wouldn't do that.
Will learns to trust Mr. Tom. He makes friends and breaks out of his shell. He learns that he is good, that he can be accepted and loved. Everything is going well until his mother sends for him saying she's sick. He goes home to find his mother is the same as she was--and she has a baby (the mother is single). She keeps tape on the baby's mouth so it can't cry. Will tries to help it and is beat. His mother calls him a liar when he says he made friends.
Back in the town, Mr Tom doesn't hear anything from Will. None of his friends have heard anything either. Even though he knows he has no real right, Mr. Tom packs up and heads to London to find Will.
I'm stopping the summary there because I don't want to spoil the book and really, you can get most of what I wrote before on the back cover of the book.
Good Night Mr. Tom is an incredibly tender book. It made me almost cry. I would recommend it for adults and children alike. Another 3 thumbs up.
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