Let me start off my critique by stating that I absolutely loved Good Night, Mr. Tom. The author, Michelle Magorian, reached out to you and pulled you into the book as if you were a character yourself. I would love to read her other book Back Home. Good Night, Mr. Tom started off a little dull, but the author soon gets your attention by telling about the fears that made Willie have accidents in bed at night and vomit when he was so scared or sick. You could almost feel how scared and unsure Willie was feeling. It was very realistic.
As the book went along, you could see how the characters changed. My favorite character in the this book was Willie. When he first came to Mr. Tom, he was a scared. shy, unsure of himself type of kid. After he came to live with Mr. Tom and learned he could trust him, he became a whole new person. By the end of the book, Will was more sure of himself and had become much more outgoing and felt good about himself. He was happy and wanted to learn how to do new things and looked forward to his new life with Mr. Tom.
The characters were wonderful. I loved how each of them changed. Mr. Tom was another favorite. I liked him because of the way he treated Willie. He treated Willie like a son from the first moment he set eyes on him. If his own wife and child had lived,he would have been a great father. I liked everything about Mr. Tom's character, but if he hadn't gone to London to get Willie back, I wouldn't have liked him as much.
The character who I hated with a passion was Willie's mom. She deserved to get beaten up more than Willie did. He never did anything to deserve what she did to him. I could not feel sorry for her when she committed suicide.
My favorite part of the book was when Tom went to London to get Willie back from his Mom. (My Mom cried during that part, but don't tell anyone).
I would not change any part of this book because I think Michelle Magorian did a great job.
What I have learned from this novel is that I have the best parents and family a child could ever have, and I realized from reading this book that I can grow up and become a good parent like my mom and dad. After reading this boolc, I have a better understanding of family and friends and can appreciate how lucky I have been. It also made me realize how lucky this country has been to never had had a war where kids were forced to be away from their families.
Please continue to read this book with future classes.
To read more student work go to Student Authors or go back to Ms. Smith's English Page