Blog For Week 3/8/16 - Is It Night Or Day by Fern Schumer Chapman

      The book that I just finished was Is It Night or Day by Fern Schumer Chapman. It is the story of Edith Westerfeld, a 12 year old girl from Germany who is forced to travel across the ocean to Chicago, without her parents, and move in with her aunt and uncle. 

List at least three problems the characters faced? Explain

      One of the problems that Edith faced was having to abandon her family while she was moving to a country that seemed as far away as the moon to her. Her family could not come with her when she was moving to Chicago. They stayed in Germany because of a few reasons. One was that Edith's grandmother refused to leave. Her family had lived in that house for almost 200 years, and she was not about to give it up. Another reason was that her parents could not get all of the papers in order to leave. 

      Another problem that she faced was that she didn't know any English. She didn't know any English, so it was really hard to communicate with people and let them know who she was, what she wanted, where she was coming from, etc. This was especially hard in school. People bullied her because since she didn't know any English, she had to be put into first grade. She learned fast and skipped grades a lot, they still made fun of her because of her accent and how she looked.

      And another problem that she faced was living with her aunt and uncle. Her uncle was nice, but her aunt treated her like a servant. Every week, she had to meet her aunt at the grocery store so that she could carry the groceries home. All of them. Her aunt didn't carry a thing. She had to wash the floors, clean her and her cousin's rooms, clean the kitchen, etc, etc, etc. She was yelled at for speaking German, even when she first got there and didn't know any English, accused of stealing food, and kicked out during her cousin's birthday party, which she was also forced to clean the apartment for.

Who is your least favorite character? Why?

My least favorite character in this book is Edith's aunt. She just seems like she would be really unpleasant to be around, from the way that she treats Edith. She is always yelling or scolding at Edith and treating her like a servant. She yells at her for speaking German, even when she barely knows any English, and even banned her from going over to friend's houses or having friends over. She just seems like she wouldn't be a very nice person to be around/live with.

List the events, in order, that have happened so far in what you’ve been reading.

• Edith starts her trip to America
• The ship lands in New York City where she then takes the train down to Chicago
• Moves in with her aunt and uncle (and cousin)
• Starts school and is soon moved up to 7th grade where she belongs
• She sees her first baseball game, with a Jewish player 
• Edith finds out where her family is and that they might not be able to make it to America