52 Books: Book 24

I have been on a Young Literature kick over the last few weeks. This is mostly because my local library has limited reading options so I have been working my way through books in my personal library – ones I haven't read in almost two decades.

Last week I wrapped up Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene. This is the story of a group of German soldiers that are sent to prison in rural Arkansas during WWII. After their arrival in Arkansas, the soldiers have a chance encounter with a Jewish family when they are permitted to make a trip to a local store. 

As the story progresses, the store-owner's daughter becomes complicit in aiding one of the Germans when he escapes. Interestingly enough, she is Jewish. She is a young teenager who doesn't really comprehend what is happening to other Jews throughout the world. All she knows is rural Arkansas and a father who beats her. Aiding the German soldier is an act of friendship with a man who shows her kindness in return. 

You will have to read the story yourself to discover what happens to the German and the little girl. My heart aches for this girl whose self-centered parents didn't know how to love her.

Excerpts from the book:

"...maybe, just maybe, we all have an enormous capacity for believing in anything that will provide us with a bit of comfort."

"The greater the value, the greater the pleasure in giving it... Even if you forget everything else I want you to always remember that you are a person of value, and you have a friend who loved you enough to give you his most valued possession."

"Folks keep forgetting that wishing don't make something so, but prayer sometimes do."