I received a digital copy through NetGalley
5 stars!
Emil is a boy growing up in Germany during Hitler's reign. He is lucky enough to not be Jewish, but he is a torn child. He loves Germany, but he doesn't agree with Hitler's hate for the Jewish. He has a couple of friends that are completely against Hitler. If it weren't for them, I would think that Emil would have just gone along with everything asked of him, even if he had the nagging feeling that it wasn't right. As the war hits and gets stronger, Emil learns that maybe Germany isn't doing as well as originally thought. The war starts negatively affecting him more so than just rationing. Still, he is a growing teen boy, and the war can't stop that. Between all the horrible events, he finds love. Will the war rip apart his home and family, kill his friends, and end his love? Will Emil even make it?
This book is an extremely heartbreaking and realistic look at World War II from a different perspective, from someone in Hitler's Army that doesn't want to be there. We so often hear about the atrocities that fell on the Jewish, but there isn't as much literature about everyday life for the non-Jewish Germans, especially those that didn't agree with Hitler. Told from the perspective of a child growing into a young adult at the worst time possible, this is a great read for teens as well as adults. It would be a great teaching tool in high schools or colleges, learning perspectives and multiple sides of the World War II story. This one is going to stick with me for a long time.
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