Summer of My German Soldier (Puffin Modern Classics)

by Bette Greene

Book Overview

An emotional, thought-provoking book from multi-award-winning author Bette Greene.

The summer that Patty Bergen turns twelve is a summer that will haunt her forever. When her small hometown in Arkansas becomes the site of a camp housing German prisoners during World War II, Patty learns what it means to open her heart. Even though she's Jewish, she begins to see a prison escapee, Anton, not as a Nazi, but as a lonely, frightened young...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142406511
• ISBN13: 9780142406519
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.9" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Summer of My German Soldier

I read this book for a project in my 8th grade English class, and finished it a few days ago. I really enjoyed the book, but was not thrilled with the closure to the story. Summer of My German Soldier is a sad story of love, friendship, kindness, and hardship. The story has well developed characters, which include Ruth, Patty, and Anton. It also has an entertaining plot. Patty takes many risks to protect Anton, a German Soldier, and learns to follow her heart. Anton cares deeply for Patty, and is willing to risk his life to protect her. After Anton escapes from the POW camp,he crosses paths with Patty, who keeps him in her garage. When Anton leaves, Patty is torn between staying with her uncaring family and starting a new life with Anton. Anton convinces Patty to stay with her family. Patty deals with several family problems throughout the story, and does not feel accepted. Patty can only rely on Ruth, their colored woman, for support. Ruth loves Patty, although she has made many mistakes. After being tried for hiding Anton, Patty is sent to a reform school and is visited only by Ruth. Ruth tells Patty that she misses her, and knows things will be better when she returns home. Ruth also tells Patty that all the awful things her parents had said about her were not true. Patty then regains her self-confidence, and is ready to rebuild her life when she leaves the reform school. This story gave me a vivid picture of what life was like during WWII, and touched my heart.

"Summer of My German Soldier"

This book is very sad, but still excellent. The main character is twelve-year-old Patty Bergen, a Jewish girl growing up during World War II. She lives in a small Arkansas town, where her parents own a department store. The federal government has chosen her town as the location for a camp for Nazi prisoners of war. Although most Jewish Americans despise the Germans for what they have done to Jews in Europe, Patty regards the prisoners of war with more curiosity than hatred. The Nazi soldiers are used to pick cotton in the fields of the rural South, and they are brought to Patty's father's store to pick out hats to protect their faces from the hot sun. Only one of them can speak English, and so he interprets for the entire group. The interpreter's name is Frederick Anton Reiker, known to his friends as Anton. Patty is present when the soldiers arrive at the store, and she waits on Anton, who wants to buy a pencil sharpener. They become friends in this short length of time. Patty has many problems with her family. Her parents never show her any love or kindness. Her mother, who is very beautiful, is always finding faults with Patty's appearance, and her father outright hates her. She has to endure beatings and whippings from him several times. Patty has very few friends, and her closest friend is Ruth, an African-American woman hired to be the housekeeper and cook for the Bergens. Patty also loves her sister Sharon, even though Sharon receives a lot of love and attention from the girls' parents, and of course there is Anton. She isn't good friends with the other girls in their town because of the ever-present barrier of religion. Anton manages to escape from the prisoners' camp and makes his way to Patty's home. She shelters him in a forgotten suite of rooms above the family's detached garage, and brings him food and clothing daily. During this time period, their friendship deepens. Anton witnesses one of the beatings that Patty's father was giving her, and tried to rush to her aid. When Patty is talking to him after this episode, she realizes that she has never loved her parents, particularly her father, and that they are cruel to her. However, her time with Anton can't last. He feels that he is threatening Patty's safety by staying with her, and so he leaves. Over the next few months, Patty has to deal with many crushing losses, especially one concerning Anton. She draws strength from a ring he gave her before parting, which was his most treasured possession. She also learns to accept that her parents cannot and will never love her, but she realizes that it isn't because of her faults that her parents hate her--it is because of their pettiness and narrow-mindedness. I recommend this book to anyone. It's really sad and will probably make you cry at some points, but the story is absorbing and very believable.

Summer of My German Soldier

I just read "Summer of My German Soldier", by Bette Greene. I thought that this was a really terrific book. It is the story of Patty Bergen, a Jewish girl in the South during WWII, who makes friends with a Nazi soldier. She makes friends with him because she her parents are mean to her and she wants companionship and love. This was a wonderful book with characters so real that I could feel what they were feeling and think what they were thinking. After reading "Summer of My German Soldier", I had tons of questions about the book and about the author. I wanted to know if any of it was based on a true story. I also wondered if Bette Greene's life influenced her to write the book in any way. So I did some research on the internet, and I found out that there's a webpage about the author and the book! It's at bettegreene.com and it has tons of useful and interesting information. Plus, you can email Bette Greene about her books! I recommend that you read this book and look at the website to get answers to the questions I know you'll have.

Great plot, it really pulled me in!

I thought that Summer Of My German Soldier was was a great book with lots of good conflict.

A very good book

There are very few books that are this good. I am 17, and as you know, most 17 year olds wouldn't even pick up a book, I picked this one up and couldn't put it down. It made me laugh, and it made me cry. All around it was excellent.