Good Night, Mr. Tom

"A small, timid refugee from wartime London--and from a sadistic mother--and a lonely villager who has reluctantly accepted the child form a bond of love and trust that is deeply touching. . . . a vivid cast for an English story with universal and timeless appeal."--IRA Children's Book Award Committee. ALA Notable Children's Book; 1982 ALA Best Books for Young Adults; 1983 "Horn Book" Fanfare Honor List; 1982 IRA Children's Book Award; "Booklist" 1982 Young Adult Editors' Choices.

A powerfully emotional award-winning novel about the ways we save each other.

London is poised on the brink of World War II. Eight-year-old Willie Beech is evacuated to the English countryside and lands on Thomas Oakley's doorstep, timid and scarred from abuse. Mr. Tom, a gruff but kindly old man, is deeply moved for the boy, treating him with a gentleness he's forgotten he's even capable of. With Mr. Tom's help, Willie forgets his hateful past and learns to love a world he never knew existed, a world of friendship and affection and joy.

But then a telegram comes, and Willie is ordered to return to London. When weeks pass without word from him, Mr. Tom sets out for London to once again rescue the boy he's come to love as a son.