Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene
Writing about The Savior a couple of days ago got me thinking about some of my first exposures to the Holocaust. I read this when I was probably a little bit too young. I know that some high school teachers assign this book, but I’m pretty sure I was in 5th or 6th grade when I read this the first time.
It follows the story of this 12 year old girl who lives in the south and becomes friends with a Nazi soldier that lives in a camp in her town. I remember being totally blown away that the Nazi was *gasp* a good person and that Patty got so wrapped up in what was going on. I also remember Patty’s dad being kind of a mess and her whole family being dysfunctional. I always had a thing for books with dysfunctional families because for a lot of years, mine was dysfunctional to the max.
I remember recommending this to all of my friends and every single person hating it and thinking it was stupid. We were totally into Goosebumps and Baby-Sitters Club and all these other light, fluffy reads and no one really got why I liked this one so much. I’m still like that: reading sad and/or creepy stuff and all my friends just borrow my “girl books.” Meh. Oh well 
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2 Comments
I remember this book! The minute I saw the cover, it all came back to me. I loved it, maybe read it in 5th or 6th grade? Awesome choice!
Here’s mine:
http://www.imperfectionisthenewpink.com/2010/08/flashback-friday.html
PS- Belly rubs!
Summer of My German Soldier was my favorite book in 8th grade. Everyone in my class hated it and I was obsessed. I feel like I may need to go back and read it again.