American writer and intellectual Walter Lippman

“The great social adventure of America is no longer the conquest of the wilderness but the absorption of fifty different peoples.”

-Walter Lippman

“Remember, remember always that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”

-Franklin D. Roosevelt

Computer scientist and U.S. Naval Officer Grace Murray Hopper

“I handed my passport to the immigration officer, and he looked at it and looked at me and said, “What are you?”

-Grace Murray Hopper

Adult? YA? Memoir? Chick Lit? Judaic? Spirituality?

Bookstores and publishers love categories — Holocaust, Judaism, Chick Lit, travel, memoir, biography, literary, etc. That’s understandable since booksellers have to organize their shelves somehow. The trouble is not all books fit neatly into one category.

My books are especially challenging. Both Motherland and Is It Night or Day? have been mis-categorized. Both are often labeled “Holocaust” books, though I would argue that neither one is a “Holocaust” book.

Motherland addresses mother-daughter relationships against the backdrop of the Holocaust and submerged past. It raises difficult questions: Exactly what knowledge does a parent owe a child? How does the past (or lack of a past) inform a child’s identity? Set against the backdrop of religious hatred and war, Is It Night or Day? tells the story of child immigration and raises a different set of questions: How does a refugee immigrant gain an American identity? To what extent does the trauma of leaving influence a child’s personality? What obligations does an open society have towards its newest members?

Adult? Young Adult?

The markets for my books pose another challenge since both are appropriate for “Adults” and “Young Adult” (YA). Popular with adult book clubs, Motherland was released as an “Adult” book. Is It Night or Day? has found an audience in libraries and schools since it was released as a “Young Adult” title. Age labels dictate where book reviews will appear, where the book will be placed in stores, and even who will discuss the book in blogs (YA or adult blogs), further limiting the exposure of the title. Consequently, my books largely attract readers in their designated markets.

Another example of this problem is Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, which was released in Australia as an “Adult” book and in the United States as a “Young Adult” book. Undoubtedly, those labels frustrate Zusak. “I didn’t set out to write a good young adult book or a good adult book, ” he said.

“I really tried to write someone’s favorite book.”

From Teen Reads blog:

**** Highly recommended

“Chapman makes effective use of a first person, chronological narrative to develop the story. She chooses her scenes well to reveal Edith’s loneliness and isolation as she tries to adjust to her circumstances, and the reader is quickly engaged, and cares what happens to her. Edith comes across as a complex and realistic young person who has much to struggle with. Dialogue is effective and realistic, sometimes painfully so.”

**** From Briony Zlomke at Goodreads.com

“I fell in love with this book despite the heaviness of the content…I also liked how Chapman demonstrated that people, especially relatives of Jewish victims, realized the gravity of the Nazi destruction, but many refused or could not extend the help that was needed. I think the greatest part of the book was the end in the epilogue when Chapman discusses her title. I do not want to give anything away, but reading her explanation brought tears to my eyes.”

***** From J. Prather at Amazon.com

“This is a stunning portrayal of a young girl struggling to fit into American culture after fleeing Nazi Germany in the years leading up to World War II…it takes a unique look at child immigration and will be a perfect addition to a social studies curriculum for middle schoolers. There are many parallels to be drawn here between Edith’s plight and the troubles of many immigrants today. I was impressed by the author’s ability to tell such a powerful story in so few words. She portrays Edith’s growth throughout the book and it was very gratifying to see her finally obtain a sense of pride in her Jewish heritage. A big recommend for grades 5-8.”

Passport photos: Gerda Katz and Edith Westerfeld

In our quest to find my mother’s old friend, “Gertie Katz,” we discovered that my mother had the wrong spelling of her friend’s name.

That’s not surprising, given that the two knew each other when they were 12 years old — seventy-three years ago.

The two girls immigrated together on the Deutschland. The ship left Bremen, Germany on a cold, gray day, March 8, 1938 and arrived in New York City on a sun-splashed March 19, 1938. Gertie and Edith became inseparable on the ship. (See blog below: WANTED (by Edith) Gertie Kahn of Seattle)

We contacted the One Thousand Children Foundation (OTC), asking for any information about “Gertie.” Here is the response from the OTC that identified our error:

dear edith,

yes, there is a gerda katz in the otc database who arrived in the us on 3 19 38 but we have never found her. perhaps you can find a lead from the archivists at YIVO (http://www.yivo.org) where indivudual otc childrens’ files exist.

good luck

Ahhhhh, GERDA KATZ.

Here is the passenger record the OTC included in the email:

Lost childhood

From reader Karin Gordon:

“The one scene in the book, Is It Night or Day?, that stays with me is the young boy who lay curled up on the deck crying he wanted to go to the zoo. I was without my parents for several years during the war.

“The Germans walked into Denmark in 1940 when I was two years old. When I was four, the Germans took our house, the Resistance movement bombed the milk factory where my father worked. (The Resistance bombed anything that could be of help to the Germans, in this case, milk and butter.) No one could take in a family of four so we were scattered like unwanted puppies.

“For three years, I stayed with different aunts and uncles and once with a friend of my mother’s. Some treated me well, one undressed and beat me for no reason – I was so sick at that place I couldn’t eat but threw up constantly (while they taunted me). My father came one evening on his bicycle, saw my condition, put me on the crossbar of his bike, but had nowhere to take me, so he dropped me at a cousin’s house on the way to the town where he had a room. I had no idea where the rest of the family were. I saw one of my parents on occasion. No one wanted to talk about it afterwards.

“We were united in a flea-infested flophouse near the end of the war in 1945. The other lodgers were pimps, whores, black market racketeers. the owner was a witch. My mother broke down and continued breaking down resulting in long stays at a sanatorium. This led to me being farmed out again, to a lovely aunt, but I was desperate for my mother.

“I remember how terrifying it was not to know when I’d see my parents again. My aunt once told me I’d get to see my mother in ‘two weeks,’ but I didn’t know how long that was.

“We were not united with our family in our own apartment until I was 11, but my mother remained threadbare, unavailable.”

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has nominated Is It Night or Day? to its Best Fiction for Young Adults (BFYA) list. Here is an explanation of the nomination from the YALSA website:

“YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee presents fiction titles published for young adults in the past 16 months that are recommended reading for ages 12 to 18. The purpose of the annual list it to provide librarians and library workers with a resource to use for collection development and reader’s advisory purposes.

“It is a general list of fiction titles selected for their demonstrable or probable appeal to the personal reading tastes of the young adult. Such titles should incorporate acceptable literary quality and effectiveness of presentation.

“Each year each of the selection lists committees (not award committees) will produce a top 10 list along with their more comprehensive one.

Here is the link to the complete list:
http://www.ala.org/yalsa/bfya

The Deutschland

Gertie Katz (from an unknown German town) and Edith Schumer (my mother) of Stockstadt am Rhein immigrated together on the Deutschland. The ship left Bremen, Germany on a cold, gray day, March 8, 1938 and arrived in New York City on a sun-splashed March 19, 1938. Gertie and Edith, who were both 12 years old, became inseparable on the ship.

“We had so much in common,” Edith says. “We both left our parents and we turned to each other for support during the passage. She immediately became my best friend since I didn’t have many friends left in Germany.”

Passport photos: Gertie Katz and Edith Westerfeld

When the two girls parted in New York, Gertie gave Edith this photo. On the back, she wrote 21 März 1938. Zur Erinnerung Deine Freudin, Gertie Katz. “March 21, 1938. For remembrance. Your friend, Gertie Katz.”

“Gertie didn’t know where she would be living,” Edith remembers. “All she knew was that she would be placed in a home with strangers in Seattle. I gave her my address, but I never heard from her again. I always wondered what happened to her.”

That was 72 years ago.

“Gertie?” Edith says, “I’ve thought about you all these years. I’d love to hear from you or your children.”

Edith’s email is edielar@aol.com.

Both books, Is It Night or Day? and Motherland, tell part of this story.

In 1988, fifty years after Kristallnacht, “Night of Broken
Glass,” churches marked the mournful occasion by creating a “Night of
Remembrance.” Services were held, candles lit, names of survivors and
escapees read at memorials and churches. During those ceremonies, many
church leaders asked elder members if they remembered the Jews who once
lived in their towns. 

A grass-roots movement emerged and Germans began to research the Jewish
families who once lived in the area, restore the local synagogues, and
create organizations formed at that time to remember the Jews and
their contributions in Germany.

In 2004, when I received an award for my first book, one such organization,
“The German Society to Preserve Jewish Culture," sent one of its members to
attend the ceremony. This organization also helped find a publisher for the
German edition, Mutterland.

Now, the Society is wishing me well on my new book.
Here is the email I received from one of its members:

Dear Fern,

Greetings and congratulations from your friend Christa, living in "Motherland"-
Stockstadt, and from all friends and members from the Förderverein für jüdische
Geschichte und Kultur in the region/area from Riedstadt and Landkreis
Groß-Gerau. (The German Society to Preserve Jewish Culture in the cities and counties
neighboring my mother's hometown, Stockstadt.)

We are so thankful for your work. I am sure, it means healing for Edith and
peace in the hearts of the more than 1000 "children" reading your new book!

Wishing you all the best for your work and reading.
Your publications open doors. Don't stop writing. 

Big hug,
Christa

Pictured here: In 2009, my German friend, Christa Schreck, showed
my American friend, Bob Konrardy (and his wife, Maggie), around my
mother's home town in Germany.