Retro Book of the Week: Summer of My German Soldier

Summer of German Solider
by Bette Greene
1973

To go with our romance theme for February, this is a WWII story about an American girl who falls in love with a German soldier. Patty is a 12-year-old girl living in Arkansas, and Anton is a German POW who has escaped from an Arkansas POW camp. Patty hides Anton above her garage, and becomes friends/falls in love with him, despite their age difference. The tow become friends, even though Patty is taking a big risk in helping him.

There is no inappropriate romance in this novel; Patty simply has a school-girl crush on Anton. The bigger themes are those of prejudice and self-esteem. The people in Arkansas have a huge prejudice against Anton and the other German POWs, without even seeing the men as people. Anton says in the story that he does not sympathize with the Nazi cause, and he is actually an intelligent, kind man. Patty develops her self-esteem throughout the story, learning to lover herself despite the abuse and insults of her parents.

Summer of My German Soldier may be a "retro" book, but it stands the test of time because it is historical fiction. Check it out today @ your library!

ALA Youth Media Award Winners for 2011

The Newberry and Printz Award winners were announced this week while we were out for the snow. Here they are:

Newberry Award (for outstanding contributions to children's literature)
Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool

Newberry Honor Books
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus

Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Printz Award (for excellence in literature written for young adults)

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

Printz Honor Books

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

Nothing by Janne Teller

Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award (for books of merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered experience)

Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher

Stonewall Honor Books

will grayson, will grayson by John Green and David Levithan and

Love Drugged by James Klise

Freaks and Revelations by Davida Willis Hurwin

The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams

William C. Morris Award (for book published by a first-time author writing for teens)

The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston

Margaret A. Edwards Award (for an author who's body of work has made a significant contribution to young adult literature

 Sir Terry Pratchett

Coretta Scott King Author Award (recognizing an African American author of outstanding books for children and young adults)

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Corette Scott King Author Honor Books

Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri, illustrated by Randy DuBurke

Historical Fiction: Three BOB Books

Continuing with our historical fiction theme, here are three of this year's Battle of the Books titles that you can check out. We have lots of students reading these titles right now to prepare for our competition this March. I'm particularly excited about these three because two of them are by great authors (Karen Hesse and Avi) and the third looks like an interesting concept that takes readers through multiple eras of US History. Check them out today @your library!

The Brooklyn Nine: A Novel in Nine Innings
by Alan Gatz

This book tells the stories of nine generations of an immigrant family living in New York. Each story is loosely connected, but all are deeply rooted in the history of baseball and American History. Historical times periods include the Civil War, the Vaudeville era, the Roaring Twenties, the Negro Leagues, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, Sputnik, and the departure of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse

Billie Joe is a teenaged girl who lives with her mother and father on a wheat farm that has been ravaged by the constant dust storms of the dust bowl in Oklahama in 1934-1935.

Iron Thunder: The Battle Between the Monitor and the Merimac

by Avi

Tom's job as an assistant to Captain John Ericsson, the inventor of the Monitor, makes him a target of Confederate spies.

What I'm Reading Now

Going with the historical fiction theme for November, I'm almost finished with The Season by Sarah MacLean. Alexandra, the daughter of the Duke and Dutchess of Worthington, is a strong female character who discovers a mystery during her "coming out" season in British society. Alex does not want to court or marry because she feels men will not appreciate her intellect, but she meets a gentleman who gives her a run for her money. I would consider this book a sort of Pride and Prejudice for the younger set, filled with mystery, romance, glamour, and humor!


I've just started the first book in the Gallagher Girls series (because a student finally turned it back in), I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter and so far I'm hooked. I love Harry Potter, and this series reminds me a lot of of Harry Potter -- just with girls and spies. The smartest girls from across the country are picked to attend this super-elite, beautiful boarding school where special classes teach them the skills to work in covert operations. Of course, we are still dealing with teenage girls here, so friendships, crushes, romance, and drama still fill the halls. However, I love the strong female characters and the message that it is cool to be smart. I'm 30 pages in and hooked!