Summer of My German Soldier is about Patty Bergen, a young girl living in Arkansas during WWII. Patty is Jewish, which she readily admits is a rare thing to be in the South in the 40's. But Patty's otherness doesn't just hinge on her Jewishness. Patty is different, and she knows it. She can't put her finger on why it is the way it is, but she doesn't act like other little girls, and her parents also don't let her forget it. Patty's father is mean and physically cruel, Patty's mother is cold and unloving, and Patty's little sister is the family angel--beautiful and well-behaved and much loved. Patty does have one friend, the family's maid and cook, a black woman named Ruth, who loves Patty equally as much. All that changes for Patty when a group of German POWs is brought to a prison camp in little Jenkinsville, Arkansas. Patty meets and befriends one of the POWs, a man named Anton Reiker. Patty comes to feel loved by Reiker, and helps him hide from the authorities when he escapes from camp. Predictably, things don't turn out well for Reiker, or Patty, who is found out.
I'm not exactly sure why this book is one of the most banned of the 90's. First of all, there's no sex in it. The relationship between Patty and the Nazi is never inappropriate, unless you consider it inappropriate for a Jewish girl to help a Nazi (a Good Nazi, the book makes very clear). I suppose some people might consider that a reason to ban a book, though I think that's the most ludicrous reason ever. There is one use of the n-word in the book, but I considered that to be entirely appropriate to the time and place that Patty is living in. I know books have been banned for the n-word (Huck Finn, for example), but this was one usage in a book full of prejudiced Southerners. Couple this with the fact that Patty is probably the least prejudiced character in the book, and it seems like you've got a good thing going in this book. I just don't think that one usage of the word warrants banning. I can't imagine that's the reason. And the only other thing I could possibly see would be the extreme beatings that Patty gets handed by her very mean father. I mean, these are pretty awful beatings, and they're pretty painful to read. But I also really can't imagine that's a reason to ban a book. It seems like a really strange thing--parents not wanting their kids to read about kids being abused by their parents--unless the parents are abusers? I don't know. I really can't figure it out. So yeah, I can see no feasible reason for this book to be banned. No sex. No bad language. I'm baffled.
I'd absolutely recommend this book to a young person, though I can't say how young I'd be comfortable giving the book to. Depends on the kid, and their level of maturity. It's also a fairly depressing book, but it paints an interesting picture of a German who isn't all bad. It's also true that tons of teenagers go through periods of fascination with the Holocaust. Don't believe me? Ask a YA librarian. In that case, this is definitely a good book to fit into that period of time, because it's just a different viewpoint than many of the things I've read. Again, this book can be brutal at times, and it's definitely not an uplifting book, ultimately. But there is also a sequel, so you might get away with giving both to a person at the same time. And honestly, I'm very surprised that I didn't read this book during my teenage years, because it would have been right up my alley then. Very glad to have read it.
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.