Award-Winning Young Adult Novel “Alan and Naomi” Is Now Available for the Kindle

Dec. 19, 2010 - PRLog -- The classic 1977 young adult novel “Alan and Naomi” takes place in New York in 1944 and tells of the growing friendship between seventh-grader Alan Silverman and a traumatized young French refugee named Naomi Kirshenbaum who witnessed the Gestapo’s murder of her father. Alan doesn’t want to give up his afternoon stickball game for anyone—especially not to make friends with crazy-acting Naomi. But when he sees her haunted face and hears about her horrifying experiences during the war in German-occupied France, Alan changes his mind. Slowly he struggles to make Naomi speak to him, and one day—miraculously—she begins to trust him. Soon they share homework and games, as well as their deepest feelings. Alan finds that Naomi is not only intelligent, but also funny and fun to be with. Alan’s world changes and grows with the friendship. But the scars and fears of the Nazis are still very much with Naomi, and Alan must reach even deeper into himself for understanding.

“Alan and Naomi,” now available for the Kindle for the first time, has received copious critical acclaim and numerous awards:

New York Times: “A poignant double portrait of a boy and girl whose lives are changed by the terrible events of the Holocaust. Honest, compassionate writing.”

School Library Journal: “Their special friendship is a joy and this warming story, with its ethnic humor, its compassionate families, and its heart-wrenching ending is one of the more honest approaches to the repercussions of World War II.”

Booklist: “Levoy’s story cuts through to strong emotions… The impact is powerful, the final chapter despair as aching for the reader as for Alan.”

A National Book Award Finalist

American Library Association: Best of the Best for Children

Young Adult Library Services Association: Best of the Best List

New York Times: Best Books for Children

National Awards for Children’s Books: Holland, Austria, and Germany

Boston Globe—Horn Book Awards: Honor Book

Jane Addams Childen’s Book Awards: Honor Book

“Alan and Naomi” was made into an award-winning major motion picture in 1992.

About the Author:
Myron Levoy, a former engineer who has worked on projects for power systems and aerospace, including a manned mission to Mars, was born and raised in New York City, where many of his stories take place. His young adult novels—“Alan and Naomi,” “A Shadow Like a Leopard,” “Three Friends,” “Pictures of Adam,” and “Kelly ’n’ Me” — depict, often with humor, outsiders searching for identity and connections, with growing insight into their true selves. In addition to novels for young adults, Mr. Levoy is the author of, among other children’s books, “The Witch of Fourth Street and Other Stories,” which was named a Children’s Book of 1972 by the Library of Congress and a Children’s Book Council Children’s Book Showcase selection in 1973.

Kindle editions of Mr. Levoy’s other young adult novels will be available for Kindle in the coming months.

# # #

Book publisher specializing in educational books and quality fiction for both young readers and adults.