Summer Of My German Soldier | Teen Ink

Summer Of My German Soldier MAG

By Anonymous

   Summer of My German Soldier, written by Bette Greene, is a very unusual, suspenseful and moving novel. I enjoyed this book tremendously and have to struggle to think of things I disliked about it.

To begin with, I really liked the different setting for a World War II POW camp. Most prison camps you read about were for Allied prisoners and Jews in Europe. This camp was located in the United States in a little town in Arkansas, and the prisoners were German.

Another interesting twist was the escape story. Usually we read about the escape of Jews from terrible concentration camps. This time the story is about a young German soldier named Anton Reiker, who escapes from an American prison camp. To top it all off, his escape is aided by a twelve-year-old Jewish girl named Patty Bergen.

The part I liked best was the friendship between Anton, Patty, and Ruth, the Bergen's black housekeeper. They don't just see each other as Nazi, Jew or black. They see each other as real people with some very wonderful qualities, and love each other for what they are and not for what people label them.

Summer of My German Soldier is a book I would recommend to everyone. It gives you a whole new point of view about people, especially Germans, Jews and Americans. It is important for us to realize that we can't classify people as good or bad because of their nationality, race, or religion. There are good Germans, Jews and Americans, and there are bad ones too. n





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This article has 5 comments.


i love this !

rufina said...
on Dec. 29 2013 at 11:15 pm
i think that all teens and actually everyone that never read this book should read it because everyone can learn from this and stop being racist and stop bullying and realize that there is something good in life.

on Mar. 21 2012 at 7:43 pm
elarebadaxe SILVER, Portage, Michigan
7 articles 1 photo 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
OCCUPY MORDOR: because one ring shouldn't be allowed to rule them all.

Nice review! This book sounds amazing, I love how it comes from the German side of World War II instead of the Jewish/American side that we usually hear and read about in America. 

on Apr. 17 2011 at 8:50 pm
radicalhonesty GOLD, Alpharetta, Georgia
12 articles 2 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is no situation, facet, or aspect of life that cannot be improved with pizza. -Daria

I read this book and I loved it. It was very unusual, most books don't talk about the personalities of Nazis. I believe this book was not only about accepting race and religion, but it was about Patty's struggle to be accepted. She saw beyond the POW and Nazi label, she saw a person. 

baby123 said...
on Jan. 12 2010 at 5:02 pm
hey everyone i just want to say that this one was an awesome book when i read the first part i was like omg LOL