A Pocket Full of Seeds

Nicole Nieman #1

by Marilyn Sachs

During World War II in occupied France, a young Jewish girl returns from an overnight visit with a friend to find her family has disappeared

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, World War II, Holocaust, Childrens, Young Adult, Historical

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Ollypally · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a wonderful story. I feel that it tells that hope is our life. The story didn't end like they were already back together.. enjoying as a family...but as she hoped ..the war ended ..so I feel that it is a happy ending story..✨✨

[Ejayen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It felt hopeful, but it ended in the middle of the war. It's a different WWII story.

[Dena Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Marilyn Sachs books when I was a kid, in particular the Laura and Amy series, and the books with Veronica Ganz, so I have been looking for titles by Sachs in used book stores. I thought I might like this one because it is about a Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis in France. Unfortunately, this book doesn't hold up after having read much better middle grade books about Jews during World War II. I recommend Number the Stars and The Upstairs Room for young readers who aren't quite ready to hear about the gas chambers.

There was a good message about grief and how one can have moments of levity even in the midst of missing one's loved ones and how others might not understand that. However, that message came in the first chapter, when the main character Nicole, is missing her parents who have been captured by the Nazis. After the first chapter, the author goes back in time to explain how Nicole arrived in this situation in which she is separated from her parents. I believe that at the time this book was written (1973), people tried to shield young readers from more than they do today. The rest of the 137 page book was just average to me. There is not much depiction of the pain and fear that Jews felt after the Germans took over what had formerly been unoccupied France.

[Rebekah Haas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty alright book. There were some french in there I didn't fully understand, and I feel there should be a sequel because the climax was delayed and not resolved, but not like a cliff hanger.

OK plot line, but not indifferent to the rest of the holocaust books I've read.

[J.D. Holman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a reread. I read this book many times as a child, to the point of almost being able to recite passages. After having a farewell dinner with friends for one who was moving back to her country of origin because she was facing so many anti-immigrant comments, the scene where Nicole's family and that of her best friend have a similar dinner before the best friend's family left for Switzerland came to mind. I had to read it again.

I started with that passage, then that entire chapter ("Eggs! Mme. Blanchard, we haven't had eggs for so long I can hardly remember what they taste like."), then the conclusion, then ... the entire book, start to finish.

And I'm going to hand it to my husband next. Next fall, I'll read it to my upper elementary students, and try to get copies for both my libraries.

Because this is an important story. And while it does not deal with the worst horrors of the Holocaust and the war and occupation, making it perfect for upper elementary, there is so much that I am recognizing in the present.

From the egg shortages to the immigrants disappearing, from friends leaving to other countries to the teacher extolling the virtues of the puppet government's leader ...

I am so glad I remember this book from my childhood, and have reconnected with it. It's a warning.

Side note, I am gutted that there's a sequel that was written 40 years later, and that the synopsis gives away something I had always hoped was not the outcome. Not reading that, ever. There must be hope in the world.

[Pj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicole parents, Jews in unoccupied France, decide to take a chance and wait out the war. Then one awful day Nicole comes home from school to find her entire family gone. The Nazis who have taken them are still looking for her. Where can she hide? A very disturbing book since it left me wondering if the girl ever finds her parents and sister. GRRRRRR

[Rachel Dahill-Fuchel · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is nothin* like a YA book tells its story with respect for the minds of children. The terrifying story of Nicole in nazi occupied France is direct and factual. I wish it had gone on so that we’d all know the end….

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

B. children's fiction, middle school, historical fiction, WWII, Jewish family, French occupation, Mom's stash, keep

[Keg Good · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked it up until the end when I was left hanging. I also read the Nightingale by Kristin Hannah at the same time. Both were set in France during WWII.

[Jreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3☆
I was pretty disappointed in this book.
Disappointment is hard to achieve in a 137 page book yet here we are.

This book was kind of weird. I didn't care enough about the characters, nothing really stood out to me and it was all so-so

Then the ending was weird because there was none

It just ends with Nicole receiving a message that her mother wanted her to persevere. I guess you could assume they died after they were taken on the train by the Germans and Nicole just lived her life without them, that mention of how much she loved that photograph was great and poetic and would probably hit harder if her family was dead but it was never made clear.
The ending felt more like the middle than the end, I would've been fine with an epilogue saying she reunited with her family or her family died but we got nothing, it was a lazy and abrupt end

Overall this book was pretty boring and the ending was confusing

EDIT: apparently there's a second book where I assume she goes to rescue her family or reunites with her family or just lives life I guess. It didn't need to be two books like I said this book is barely 100 pages but since the ending wasn't really an ending I'm bumping it up to 3 stars

3☆ ▪︎ --

[Rachel]

Summary: This is the story of Nicole Nieman, who realizes that her family's Jewish heritage will have a strong impact on her family and friends as the Nazis start to occupy France. Several refugees come to stay with her family while fleeing from Nazi soldiers. Nicole's parents wonder if they should also leave home to escape over the border to Switzerland or wait it out. Then one awful day Nicole comes home from school to find her parents and sister gone! The Nazis have taken her family and are looking for her. Nicole eventually goes into hiding at her school's dormitory.

Social Studies Relevance: This book would be excellent to use with a unit on World War II. This is also a good book with which to create a time line to help the students understand the sequence of events of World War II. Mapping could also be used to help the students understand where the events took place. This book would also be good in explaining the difference between a democratic society and an autocratic society.

Grade Level Focus: 4th and 5th grade

Relationship to Social Studies State Core:

* Use researching, interviewing, and charting techniques to demonstrate mastery of concepts learned.
* Outline the major historical events, people, wars, and documents that played a significant role in United States history from 1492 to the present.
* Explain the scope and limits of freedom in a democratic society.
* Create individually, or in a group, one or more of the
following: newspaper, posters, poetry, interviews, surveys, bulletin boards, stories, letter writing, diaries, dialogues, or songs.
* Formulate a plan to solve a problem and determine appropriate actions.

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was alright, but I thought it was going to be about a Jewish girl who comes home from school one day to find that her family has been taken by the Nazis. This happens at the very end of the story, so the book is really about the girls life leading up to this event. It really doesn't go into much afterwards.

On a completely unrelated note, the title made me repeatedly sing Christmas TV by the band Slow Club.

[Soph · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a great book u should read it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kevin Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

from 3/17/2012:

In this book supposedly written for children, a young Jewish girl and her family, living in France during World War II, discover that their being Jewish matters to others, to them, and to their safety. The book was OK. I don't know why I don't think it was great.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows the rational that went into one family's decision not to run from the Germans. It also gives the reader a very clear sense of it's place and time in history. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this as an adult because it was so well-written.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had forgotten how ambiguous this book is. While the reader is left with hope for a happy ending, one is never confirmed. It was nice to reread this, as Nicole comes alive on the page and the progression of the years as her world changes felt natural.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Holocaust was bad news, man. Well written for young kids.

[Mary Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Pocket Full Of Seeds by Marilyn Sachs (1994)

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems like there were a lot of childrens' books about girls and Nazis in the late 1970s. This was well written, funny and sad.

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great young adult book about a Jewish girl growing up in Nazi-occupied Paris.

[Michelle Kidwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book that drew into a young Jewish girls life in France, in the brink of a world that is changing for the worst!!!

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although things are becoming more difficult for French Jews 1938-1944, the change is so gradual that her family does not leave, and suddenly it is too late.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story. I didn't like the way the mother talked to the main character or the spoiled way her younger sister acted. The ending left you hanging as if there should be a sequel.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written and (unfortunately) very timely. And then completely unresolved! What am I supposed to do with that non-ending???