A Bag of Marbles () is a Second World War autobiographical novel by the French Jewish author Joseph Joffo. It tells the story of his flight, as a small boy, with his brother Maurice to escape from Nazi occupied France to the Zone Libre. Joffo was refused by many publishers before being encouraged by the newly founded publishing house Éditions Jean-Claude Lattès to get the help of an editor to publish the text. The book was a phenomenal best-seller, being made into a major film two years later. Plot summary Joseph is an ordinary boy with ordinary interests; he dislikes lessons and enjoys playing marbles with his friends. But in 1941, when Paris is occupied by the Nazis, his childhood comes to an end. Never before having known what it means to be a Jew, Joseph is forced to wear a yellow star. Due to his schoolmate's admiration of the yellow star, he makes his first business transaction with Zérati, a friend from school: his yellow star exchanged for a bag of marbles. The racism which results from the occupation leaves only one possibility to Joseph and his brother Maurice: they must flee. Their father, who owns a hairdressing salon, advises them what to do when they leave. Despite having been driven from their home because of their Jewish identity, they are told they must never let anyone know that they are Jews. They are attempting to escape from the grasp of Hitler and his S.S. men as they infiltrate France. They travel through northern France to the de-militiarised zone in the South. They cross the Demarcation Line in the dead of night with the help of another young boy called Raymond. Once into safe France they travel down to Menton via Marseille, where they spend a fantastic day taking in the sea - something they have never seen before. The boys then spend four blissfully safe months in Menton with their brothers, Henri and Albert, before having to leave the town for Nice, where their parents are waiting. The boys spend the summer in Nice with their parents. But due to the surrender of the Italians, when they removed Mussolini in favor of Pietro Badoglio, and the arrival of the Germans in safe France, they have to flee quickly to "Moisson Nouvelle", a camp for boys run by the Vichy government. The boys are safe here for a while,