Alan and Naomi
AuthorMyron Levoy
GenreYoung adult literature
Set inNew York City US
PublisherHarperCollins
Publication date
1977
Media typeBook
Pages192
ISBN9780064402095
OCLC247468037

Alan and Naomi is a 1977 young adult novel by Myron Levoy. The story takes place in 1944 and is about a friendship which develops between a Jewish New York boy and a refugee child from Nazi-occupied Paris. The book was adapted in 1992 into a movie of the same name.

History

In 1977, Myron Levoy wrote Alan and Naomi, a novel which involved the complexity of traumatic memory. Alan Silverman, the titular protagonist, meets Naomi Kirshenbaum, whom he regards as crazy.[1]

Written for young adults, the novel explores serious themes involving the Holocaust.[2] It has been made into a 1992 movie with the same title, and into a play titled Secret Friends.[3][4] The book was published throughout Asia and Europe.[2]

Plot

Set in 1944 New York City, the book is about a friendship that develops between twelve-year-old Alan Silverman and a French refugee of the Holocaust, Naomi.[2] The themes in the novel involve antisemitism, trust and friendship. In Europe Naomi watched the Gestapo beat her father to death. She arrived in America in shock. She doesn't speak and hangs around in the stairwell of the apartment building, nervous, and compulsively tears paper into pieces. When Alan begins to understand about Naomi's terrifying experiences during World War II in France, he tries to befriend her; soon, Naomi starts to trust him. He learns that Naomi is smart, fun to be friends with, but has been scarred by the war.

Naomi reveals that her father fought for the French Resistance and made maps to assist them. Naomi blames herself for his death because she was unable to tear up the maps. She needs to be institutionalized after an event triggers her memory, and she relapses. The novel concludes with Alan crying because he feels he has failed Naomi and tearing up his paper airplane.

Reception

The book was a National Book Award for Fiction finalist[2] and won several awards in Germany,[5][6] Austria[7] and the Netherlands.[8] In the book Melancholia and Maturation Eric L. Tribunella describes the novel as "one of the starkest representations of trauma and traumatic loss".[9] In the book The Jewish Holocaust the authors state, "There are many funny as well as serious moments as the girl (Naomi) recovers. Well written and readable".[10] The Interracial Books for Children Bulletin called it a "serious and disturbing book".[11]

References

  1. ↑ A companion to children's literature. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. 2022. ISBN 9781119038252. Archived from the original on March 3, 2023. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Maughan, Shannon (February 27, 2020). "Obituary: Myron Levoy". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Young Theatre bonn: "Secret Friends" based on the novel by Myron Levoy". Theaterkompass. Theater Compass. May 15, 2010. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  4. ↑ Orme, Terry (January 31, 1992). "Home-Grown Premiere: Utah-Based Producers Release First Film". The Salt Lake Tribune. p. C1. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ "Der gelbe Vogel". Der Buxtehuder Bulle (in German). Archived from the original on January 17, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Buch: Der gelbe Vogel". Arbeitskreis Jugendliteratur (in German). Archived from the original on January 8, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  7. ↑ Bundesministerium Kunst, Kultur, öffentlicher Dienst und Sport. "Kinder- und Jugendbuchpreis" (in Austrian German). Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Griffels, Penselen en Paletten – Bekroonde boeken sinds 1954". Stichting Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlands Boek (in Dutch). Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ Tribunella, Eric L. (2010). Melancholia and maturation : the use of trauma in American children's literature (1st ed.). Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-1572336810.
  10. ↑ Bloomberg, Marty (1995). The Jewish Holocaust : an annotated guide to books in English (2nd, rev. and expanded ed.). San Bernardino, Calif.: Borgo Press. p. 279. ISBN 9780809504060. Archived from the original on March 3, 2023. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  11. ↑ Interracial Books for Children Bulletin. Council on Interracial Books for Children. 1981. p. 22. Archived from the original on March 3, 2023. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
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