In my Trends in Young Adult Literature class we were given a list of books to choose from and a project to share ten of those books on a social media site.
SLIS 5425 Reading List Fall 2013 Trends and Issues in YA Lit rev-4
This will be book number eight for me and I had to revert back to the books from the beginning of the list, because some of the most recent ones I don’t consider share worthy. This next book I read in the very beginning of module 2.
Summer of My German Soldier
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene takes place in Jenkinsville, Arkansas during World War II. Patty a 12-yr-old Jewish girl befriends a German soldier and helps him hide after escaping the prison camp in her hometown.
Patty has a rough life at home living in the shadow of her little sister. Her mother constantly criticizes her looks and her father is abusive. Anton doesn’t understand why Patty would want to help him, but as they learn more about each other their friendship grows and Patty begins to feel valued as a person. She discovers that Anton, doesn’t like Hitler at all, yet he still wishes to return to Germany.
A Jewish girl hiding a German soldier seemed like a backwards read to me, but finding out that Anton is Anti-Nazi had me rooting for him and his friendship with Patty on every page.
Patty is able to discover who she is and how much she has to offer with the help of this soldier. If you don’t read the book then I suggest watching the movie!
After reading the book I found the movie on YouTube.