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Summer of my German Soldier (Summer of My German Soldier #1)

by Bette Greene (Goodreads Author)

3.6 of 5 stars 3.60 · rating details · 8,707 ratings · 589 reviews

It was a summer of love. A summer of hate. A summer that would last a lifetime.

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 escap...more

Paperback, 230 pages

Published September 1st 1999 by Speak (first published 1973)

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The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

Catholic Fiction

108th out of 239 books — 136 voters

Heroines who aren't confident, outspoken, competetive super-women

23rd out of 75 books — 38 voters

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Apr 21, 2012 Clare Cannon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: 12 years - adults

Shelves: young-adult, adults, favorites, 13-15yrs

This book is still a beautiful ache in my heart long after I finished it. I don't know why it never came up in lists of recommended modern classics. It is not a feel good romance, but a beautiful story of courage, friendship and love, and of a young girl learning to filter out the unkindness and prejudice directed towards her to discover the truth and goodness of love.

Adolescents who are used to a diet of feel-good will need to be prepared for some heart stretching, but in the long-run, and wit...more

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Oct 20, 2007 Adam rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: my worst enemy

OK, I lied. THIS is the worst book I've ever been FORCED to read. Note to teachers, if you make your students read this, THEN YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM! Have you ever wondered why kids don't like reading? It's because of books like these. And, if you continue to say that this book ties in with whatever WWII lesson your teaching, then I truly feel sorry. Not for the teachers, but for the students. Plain and simple, this book sucks. To the teachers who make their kids read this, I advise you to...more

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Jul 05, 2008 booklady rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone from age fifteen up

Shelves: 1970s, classic, family, youth, religion, historical-fiction

I wonder if I can ever do this story justice. It's about a young Jewish girl during WWII who befriends a German POW held in a camp near her small Arkansas town. That's the plot, but really it's about so much more: about learning to like and love yourself even when significant others don't; about salvific power of love and kindness; about true agape love.

Some might be tempted to reduce Summer to a modern day Romeo and Juliette story minus the romance, violence and suicides. It is about doomed lo...more

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May 09, 2010 Madeline rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crap-tastic, assigned-reading, kids-and-young-adult, ugh, historic-fiction

Another book I was forced to read for school and consequently now despise to the depths of my soul. But really, it's crap on its own. A twelve year old girl, complete with an abusive father and lacking the three c's of an interesting protagonist (Confidence, Common sense, and Character), gets the brilliant idea of hiding an escaped German POW in her garage. And for an added dramatic twist, SHE'S JEWISH! How's THAT for exciting conflict?
Yeah, not so much. Simply put, this book made me want to vo...more

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Nov 15, 2007 Hello Goodbye rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: No one

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD IF U HAVE ANY SENSE IN YOU DONT READ THIS BOOK

now that thats over I tell you the truth......the screaming is what you are going to be doing on every single page of this book

there are so many things I would rather do than this, like get punched by everyone in my school or watch teletubies and dora for 1 week striat (never doing anything else)

seriously if you see thsi book burn it and dance around the fire laughing like a maniac

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Apr 14, 2013 Alyssa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-ww-2

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene takes place during the middle to the end of World War II in Jenkinsville, Arkansas. It is about a 12 year old Jewish girl, by the name of Patty Bergen, who falls in love with a Nazi POW by the name of Anton. Patty is willing to do whatever it takes in order for her friend to stay alive. Anton is the only one who understands and appreciates her in a way that her parents never will, and she is willing to risk everything so he can stay in her life. This b...more Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene takes place during the middle to the end of World War II in Jenkinsville, Arkansas. It is about a 12 year old Jewish girl, by the name of Patty Bergen, who falls in love with a Nazi POW by the name of Anton. Patty is willing to do whatever it takes in order for her friend to stay alive. Anton is the only one who understands and appreciates her in a way that her parents never will, and she is willing to risk everything so he can stay in her life. This book would fall into the historical fiction genre because it contains history in a way that could have happened during that time period. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book, with its romance and action combined into one. I liked everything about it, and I had no complaints with how the author presented the story. The author fully described all of the events and characters very well, and one could actually feel and understand what was going on at that particular moment. Patty gave the reader a lot of her opinions towards the characters which helped the reader enormously to understand the characters' personalities. An example of this would be: when Patty said how she wished to be like her sister, which showed us how insecure Patty felt about herself and in a way, jealous of her own sister. The quote: “...it had to be a big lie what they say about beauty being only skin deep. For if it weren’t really there why would it show? The problem must be me”, also shows how insecure she is about herself and how her mother is beautiful on the outside and not on the inside, which made Patty feel the opposite about herself. The characters in this book are all believable and have their own unique personalities, and Patty's judgements of her parents and everyone else help to make a clear path of what kind of person everyone is. In conclusion, this book was a very well-composed book that fully described the life of the people during that time period and gave a sincere love story as well.(less)

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May 21, 2012 Tracey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bio, netgalley, ya, wwii

We never read Summer of My German Soldier in class (honestly, what did we read?), nor have I seen the movie, so this Open Road edition from Netgalley was brand new to me. I hadn't realized the main character and narrator of the story, Patty, was so young (12); my first assumption was that she was old enough for this to be a more common sort of love story.

It's not what I was anticipating, but despite her youth, it is a love story, of a sort, or of several sorts. It involves Patty's love for her s...more We never read Summer of My German Soldier in class (honestly, what did we read?), nor have I seen the movie, so this Open Road edition from Netgalley was brand new to me. I hadn't realized the main character and narrator of the story, Patty, was so young (12); my first assumption was that she was old enough for this to be a more common sort of love story.

It's not what I was anticipating, but despite her youth, it is a love story, of a sort, or of several sorts. It involves Patty's love for her sister, against all odds: it would have been less surprising to me if she had loathed Sharon for being the apple of their parents' eyes by simply existing. (What were the first five years of Patty's life, pre-Sharon, like, I wonder?) Patty's love for - or desire to love - her parents, against even greater odds. The housekeeper/nanny Ruth's genuine affection for Patty, and her staunch position on Patty's side no matter what. Anton Reiker, the German Soldier, is part of that facet; his point of view is not only as a grateful recipient of her help but as someone who sees what the rest of her life is doing to her. His and Ruth's interaction with Patty reminded me of Aibilene from The Help, constantly telling the browbeaten little girl "You is kind, you is smart, you is good..." - trying desperately to counteract the inevitable result of the horrible combination of intentional and unintentional abuse by the parents. Trying to provide a life raft in a sea of self-hatred.

There is, to be honest, a lot not to like about Patty, at first glance - which is what makes her a compelling character. She - a Jewish girl - decides to aid an escaped German POW purely based on the fact that he was friendly to her, was attractive, and spoke excellent English, and that she was instantly infatuated with him (without really knowing how to express that, even to herself); for all she knew, actually knew, he could have been the deepest-dyed Nazi there ever was. A sheltered and affection-starved twelve-year old isn't exactly the judge of character I'd want to rely on in this situation. In fact, from the little bit I know about Nazi espionage techniques, Reiker is the sort of man most prized by the SS: able to speak unaccented English, plausible and friendly-seeming... My hair stood on end a bit thinking about it. She could have caused unspeakable damage with one thoughtless act.

Also, of course, her constant lies are off-putting, and a little alarming, but in the context of her pitiable desperation to do something, anything to finally reach her parents' hearts they make sense. It seems to be an almost instinctual response to almost any situation – one which, hopefully, she can outgrow.

The introduction - exclusive to the Open Road edition, I think - talks about Bette Greene's parents' reaction to the book. "Couldn't you at least have waited till we were dead?" She apparently either evaded the question or denied outright that she and Patty were one and the same; however, her parents evidently recognized enough of themselves in the narrative to be defensive and outraged. They weren't brought to shame about their behavior, but were instead - as always - put out with their daughter that she had not had more consideration for them. I've encountered Eeeevil Parents in a couple of books lately, and sighed over them, wanting more depth to make them realistic … in Patty's parents the lack of depth is partly down to the story being told by a twelve-year-old. She had no way of knowing any kind of motivation for how they treated her, no way to fathom the psychology. She doesn't look for excuses for them - she simply shoulders the responsibility for it (she's not a good person) and tries to make amends. It's horrifying.

Looking over what I've written I see variations on the word "desperate" popping up. And for a brief book written in a fairly light tone, centered around the suburban life of a twelve-year-old merchant's daughter in 20th century Alabama, there is a wrenching amount of desperation running all through it. Reiker does not escape because he wants to meet up with saboteurs (we hope), but because the confinement was pressing upon him, and he needed freedom. Ruth is, on surface, what the Scots call sonsy; she is the mammy archetype of the middle-aged black servant who actually looks after the white folks' children - but at least one of these white folks' children is in a bad way, and she has a son of her own who is at hazard. Hers is, too, the constant worry of her race and position in her time and place. Patty sees her mother as the consummate salesperson, able to sell ice to an Eskimo, but the little scene we are shown (of a poor farmer's wife being cozened into buying not only the dress she was looking at but an ugly hat as well) is almost heartbreaking in its sordidness: the mother's eagerness to wring another dollar out of someone who can't afford it but who is almost as thirsty for praise as Patty; the false praise being heaped on this stranger when Patty would, literally, do anything for a kind word.

Love and desperation. It packs a punch that surprised me, this little book.(less)

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Jan 30, 2011 Dominic rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

I find I've been reading a lot of YA novels about males, so my wife suggested I read this one, a favorite from her adolescence.

Turns out Patty Bergen is a fantastic young adult narrator, a girl who just may have the most wretched parents I've ever read about.

Summer of My German Soldier is a unique sort of book, and it is beautifully written. It is a story about the Holocaust, but it's set in Arkansas. It was a new perspective on this horrible part of our human history. Patty Bergen is a Jewish A...more

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Apr 04, 2008 Annette rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Young Adults

Shelves: ya

When I heard that this book was about a romance between a 12 yr. old and a 22 yr. old I didn't think that I would like it, but it's not a mushy-gushy romance, its more of a friendship really.

My favorite character was Ruth. "Honey Babe",in my opinion this book would have been a complete wash if it hadn't been for Ruth.
I liked this book because it made me think. After I read it I was wishing that I had a group of people to discuss it with. If I were to lead a group discussion about this book, th...more

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Jan 08, 2008 Will.i.am Schwartz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

This was one of the best books that I read. It had a lot of things going on in it. Patty is the main character in this story. She has a normal life, however, it becomes much more interesting as it goes. The setting of this story takes place during WWII. It's about the POW's (Prisoner's of War) and how one of them escaped. His name was Frederick Anton Riecker. Patty see's him at the local drug store that her family owns. He buys some items from her but there was something that felt special to Pa...more

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Dec 14, 2009 H.orses rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh this book was awesome! It is an amazing love story between a Jewish girl and an escaped German Soldier, it shows what they both with risk and how life during the war was for families. The main character Patty, lives with a dysfunctional family and an abusive father. Wanted by the police Anton will risk his cover and Patty with house the enemy. And in the end it all comes down to one memory that could make or break them both. With a surprising twisting end I loved this book and I wanted to kee...more

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Jan 15, 2009 Sunny added it · review of another edition

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
8/10. This book is moving, at times difficult to read, and the phrases are yummy.
Basic Plot: Patty Bergen is a skinny, auburn haired Jewish girl in small town Arkansas, during WWII. Her mother can't be bothered with her except to criticise her, and her father violently beats her when she misbehaves even a little. Both parents favour her pretty younger sister. Her only real friend is Ruth, the family's housekeeper. Then, she meets Anton, a German POW bei...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Abra rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, historical-yaf, re-read

This was one of my favorite books in middle school, and I've re-read it several times since then. It speaks to anyone who has ever felt like an outcast. Patty Bergen's utter feeling of alienation from almost every single human in her general vicinity sounded a chord in me at that age, for sure. The alienation arises from many different circumstances, among which are her status as a Southern Jewish girl during WWII, and her love of words and reading. The only people she could feel close to at all...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Caroline Game added it · review of another edition

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene is a historical fiction novel that focuses on a young Jewish girl named Patricia Bergen and her unique relationship with a German soldier who escaped from the Jenkinsville, Arkansas prisoner of war (POW) camp. Patty, a lonely, outspoken twelve year old and Anton, an understanding, intelligent young man who wishes to be free, share an unforgettable summer together. So caught up in her endless attempt to protect and hide Anton, Patty becomes unaware of t...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Genna Aston rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene, also the author of Them That Glitter and Them that don’t, is a historical fiction book about World War Two, Love, and Religion. Patty Bergen, the main character and protagonist, befriends a Nazi POW, Anton. Patty, a kind, 12 year old, who has a caring heart and an open mind, helps hide Anton, a polite and gentle young man, despite being Jewish. Anton and Patty cross paths in Patty’s home of Jenkinsville, Arkansas. A small town in the giant U.S. and...more
Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene, also the author of Them That Glitter and Them that don’t, is a historical fiction book about World War Two, Love, and Religion. Patty Bergen, the main character and protagonist, befriends a Nazi POW, Anton. Patty, a kind, 12 year old, who has a caring heart and an open mind, helps hide Anton, a polite and gentle young man, despite being Jewish. Anton and Patty cross paths in Patty’s home of Jenkinsville, Arkansas. A small town in the giant U.S. and her favorite president, Roosevelt has chosen it to be the home to a prisoner of war camp; Patty knows that this wasn’t going to be any ordinary summer in Jenkinsville.

The story spans out during the late summer of 1944. Consisting of 230 pages and 21 chapters, this book successfully tells the story of one Jewish girl risking her life and her family’s reputation to save a stranger, from the POW prison. The theme is finding your inner beauty and overcoming judgment. Patty, at times, judges herself too harsh. She often times compares herself to her beautiful mother and sister, sometimes wishing she looked more like them. The main focus of Summer of my German Soldier is the telling of immediate connection Anton and Patty have towards each other mentally, physically, and emotionally. Patty, being the strong you girl that she is, wants to do what is best no matter what her parents think of it. She wants to protect the selfless and help the needed, when her parents would rather have her doing something more productive and useful. What happens to Anton? Will Patty find the boy that she loves so much? You have to read the book to find out.

A fairly easy novel, read in first person, also has a sequel; Morning is a Long Time coming, which continues the life of Patty. This book is relatable in that there is forbidden love. Sometimes, because of your family or peers, you cannot love who you really love. Patty’s mother and father control Patty’s choices and decisions and when Patty doesn’t listen she usually gets in some deep trouble. I really enjoyed this book. I love World War 2 history and books about the holocaust. When reading this book it felt like I was back in the time when Patty was my age. The book was written in a way that it made me feel like this was not a historical fiction book but an autobiography, with Patty telling the reader about her summer. Although it could have used more reference to World War 2 and what Anton did to become a POW, it was a very good book. I recommend this book to all middle school students who have an interest in World War 2 history.

This book was published by Puffin Books and can be found at most book stores for about $7.

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Feb 03, 2013 Bridget rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, ya

This is a book from the early 1970s and it shows. There are some weird things going down in this book that I don't think translate very well to today, the main one being that (view spoiler)

HOWEVER. There is definitely some value in this book and it gets some things juuuuuust creepily right, like...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Beth Bonini rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-book-club

I had thought that I might include this book in a unit I'm doing on war novels (for 12/13 year old girls), but I'm certainly glad that I read it first . . . because NO. What an extremely peculiar novel is the main thought that comes to mind. I found the writing to be rather jerky and disjointed, and certainly not convincing enough to pull together all of the disparate threads. Poor Patty Bergen. As if it wouldn't have been bad enough to be Jewish, gawky and friendless in 1940s small town Arkansa...more

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Mar 14, 2012 Lefulche rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh my goodness, this was possibly my favorite book in middle school! My mother gave me HER copy that she read as a teenager, so it was very special to me. I know I read it at least three times.

I am currently a freshman in college and have read many love stories since Summer of My German Soldier, but this book still stands out in my memory. The power of the forbidden love, the danger of a German soldier in the WWII American homefront climate, the intensity of the moral choice Patty has to make in...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summer of my German Soldier by Bette Greene tells the story of a Patti, a tortured and abused Jewish girl during World War II who houses and falls for a Nazi Soldier who escaped from a POW camp in their small southern town. The story begins with a letter from the author telling the reader that after keeping things quiet for years to save her family she now admits that the story is based off her life. Patti is a girl who just doesn't fit in, she's the only Jewish girl in a small town living with...more

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Jun 29, 2011 jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Twelve year-old Patty Bergen lives in a small Arkansas town during WWII. Her parents dislike Patty intensely, she isn't allowed to play with the poor children and there aren't many Jewish families in the area, so when her friends go to Baptist camp for the summer, Patty has little to do other than try to help in her parent's department store. Then some German prisoners are brought to a detention camp nearby and taken to buy supplies in the Bergen's store. And when one young prisoner escapes from...more

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Apr 15, 2011 Julie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just read this in a few hours this week. I did not care for it, and I wonder why it is so frequently taught in middle schools. The main character is engaging, but all the other characters except for Anton are just a bundle of stereotypes. Her parents are abusive monsters with no redeeming features, quite one-dimensional; her nanny is perfect in every way, really the Mammy stereotype, I felt. And then there's the ickiness factor: the main character is 12 and the German soldier is 20. Most of what...more

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Apr 09, 2011 Leane rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-fiction

Ugh! Why didn't I like this book?! I've been wanting to read this for years and years, knowing that it was a classic YA novel. I mean, it started out good, but then it just...ended? I assumed, as I think most people do, that the main character, Patty, falls in love with the Nazi soldier she is hiding. Right? Wrong. Not only are they too far apart in age, he is only with her for about 2 days. They do share a kiss, but then nothing happens after that. I seriously think this girl is so tired of bei...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

I had heard many good things about this book. While it was an interesting idea for a book, I found that I just couldn't connect with any of the characters or even the storyline for that matter.

Patty is a twelve year old girl who lives with her parents and sister and is cared for by a nice woman named Ruth. A little bit on the wild side, Patty is definitely not her parent's favored child. In fact, it seems like they'd like her to just disappear. She tries to be helpful and kind and make them like...more I had heard many good things about this book. While it was an interesting idea for a book, I found that I just couldn't connect with any of the characters or even the storyline for that matter.

Patty is a twelve year old girl who lives with her parents and sister and is cared for by a nice woman named Ruth. A little bit on the wild side, Patty is definitely not her parent's favored child. In fact, it seems like they'd like her to just disappear. She tries to be helpful and kind and make them like her, but she always seems to fail.

When a POW camp is established right outside her town, she gets a chance to meet some of the prisoners when they come to her father's store for hats. One in particular is kind to her and speaks to her as if she matters. His name is Anton and he is more of a scholar than soldier. Patty finds a chance to becomes friends with him when he escapes from the camp and takes to hiding in her garage at home. She brings him food and shares stories with him. Gradually she comes to appreciate him even despite their differences because he is kind to her and actually seems to care about her. However, they both know it can't last and that he needs to move on before he's caught. Its a danger to both him and Patty to be staying there.

The characters in this, with the exception of Ruth, were just terrible. Patty, to me, was a brat and while I still thought her parent's were louses, I couldn't even like her. Her parents, as said before, were terrible people with no redeeming qualities. Anton was only in the book for a little bit and never really gets fleshed out as a character. The only one I liked was Ruth. She was kind with a few flaws and just seemed to be a real person. The rest were just awful with no sense of good in them. It just wasn't very realistic. Another thing I found a bit hard to understand about the characters was the affection Anton felt for Patty even before she helped him. As a twenty something year old man it just seemed odd that he would find this connection with a twelve year old Jewish girl with no other reason than that she sold him some items at the store and was polite to him.

The writing was easy to read since it was a juvenile book. Since its an older book there are racial slurs in it and that could have the potential to offend some people. Most of the book is dialogue so there is not a great amount of description on the setting of the book and the characters were only minimally described. I did like the dialogue in this book; Greene does a wonderful job of expressing the characters feelings about the war and about their family life through their words.

I just couldn't bring myself to like this book. I wanted to but there was nothing to draw me into the story and care about the characters. Its probably a good book to introduce war themes to children but otherwise I'm not sure what its uses are. It doesn't help my opinion that the book seemed unfinished at the end as well. I kept waiting for some explanations on why people felt the way they did about Patty and what would happen to her after she left the school. It felt incomplete.

Fascinating idea for a plot but only carried out fairly well instead of the excellent book it could have been. It wasn't all terrible, as I said before I liked some of the conversations that took place in the book. It just wasn't what I expected the novel to be when I had heard about it from others.

Summer of My German Soldier
Copyright 1973
230 pages (less)

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Mar 27, 2010 Mimi rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

I honestly didn't really like this book. I thought I would, because it's a famous one or classic one, but I didn't.

I did like the character of Anton. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to be in medical school to become a doctor, then have a political group you don't agree with gain control of your country, get drafted in the army, become a prisoner of war, labor in fields, escape, and then get shot and die. Thus ending the promising life of a would-be doctor and genuinely nice person. Tra...more

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Aug 13, 2009 Christina Rumbaugh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pre-college, the-college-years, a-little-girly, for-fun-school-age, period-era, for-class-school-age

When I first read this book, I thought it was amazing. I loved it. I was sucked into it. I wanted to be the girl, and I wanted my own German soldier (sort of). When I read it, I think I was the same age as the girl, so I had the same little tween fantasies, haha. In case you haven't read it, it's about a 12- or 13-year-old Jewish girl who meets a German soldier (during WWII, mind you) in her little down (in Alabama?) where there is a big POW camp/prison. Her father owns a general store, and occa...more

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Jun 23, 2012 Shannon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

I read Summer of My German Soldier as an 8th grader and just read it again this month with a group of my 8th graders. When I first read Greene's work, I remember feeling like I was crossing a threshold of sorts ... moving into adulthood. It was one of the first books I read with such adult themes, and I remember feeling for the characters and experiencing horror and anger and sorrow and thinking I'd be forever changed by the experience.

War. How do we allow war to mark us and change us? Abuse. R...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: wwii, war, historical-fiction, novels, children

I had a little bit of a hard time with how sad this book was--I identified a lot with the main character. My parents weren't like hers, but I've experienced some of the same issues with feeling like there wasn't much love among the adults around me and always internalizing it as though the fault were in me. So reading about Patty going through the same thing and not realizing that it wasn't her fault that her father beat her and her mother was a witch was hard for me.

Plus, one of the only people...more

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Nov 22, 2011 Diana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Open Road Media has re-released multiple Bette Greene novels in the ebook format, and Summer of My German Soldier was one of them. The book was released in 1973 and has been a staple in many required reading curricula for middle and high schools. While I was not forced to read this in middle school, it was one of the recommended books to read, which I did.

Summer of My German Soldier is about Patty Bergen, a young Jewish girl from Jenkinsville, Arkansas, and Anton Reiker, a German prisoner of war...more Open Road Media has re-released multiple Bette Greene novels in the ebook format, and Summer of My German Soldier was one of them. The book was released in 1973 and has been a staple in many required reading curricula for middle and high schools. While I was not forced to read this in middle school, it was one of the recommended books to read, which I did.

Summer of My German Soldier is about Patty Bergen, a young Jewish girl from Jenkinsville, Arkansas, and Anton Reiker, a German prisoner of war, and the relationship that they forge.

The thing to consider about Summer of My German Soldier is that prior to the ebook release, the book has been considered a work of fiction. There had been a lot of speculation that Ms Greene had written this novel based on her own life, and there had been a lot of denial on her end…. until recently. At the beginning of the book, she has an affidavit declaring that the book is autobiographical.

Now, having said that, a new light has been cast on the story, making it entirely different from what I read almost twenty years ago. The realities and cruelties that Patty endured are incredibly palpable. The corporal punishment she goes through is difficult to read. Her voice is so real that it made my heart ache.

I had a little bit of a problem with reading Patty’s character because she was so starved for attention and would fabricate little white lies. However, since she is twelve and the Esau of she and her sister, it is understandable. While her time with Anton is brief, it had haunted her for the rest of the life. Because of him, she learns self-worth.

It’s amazing how Summer of My German Soldier, which is set during the Second World War, is applicable to modern times. I can understand why it is required reading for some schools. There are a lot of themes and lessons to be learned from this story, some of which have made a lasting impression on me. Because of the subject matter and the violence towards Patty, I was only able to give it three stars.
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Aug 12, 2009 Josiah rated it 4 of 5 stars

"A person's got to think, otherwise that person's no better than a trained seal balancing a ball on his nose. If only that seal could think, he'd know he was making a thousand children laugh."

—Patty Bergen, "Summer of My German Soldier", P. 160

"Like the Bible tells us, when a man will lay down his life for a friend, well, then there ain't no greater love in this here world than that."

—Ruth, "Summer of My German Soldier", P. 130

I have heard quite a bit about this book before I began to read...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Les rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read this about 30 yrs ago, just re-read. Some of the language might be a little shocking today but my family was from rural Mississippi and I heard similar talk when I was young. What I'd forgotten was what a total SOB Patty's dad was, slapping her in the face hard enough to knock her down and beating her with a belt just for talking to a boy he didn't approve of. Her mom was pretty smarmy to her as well, although she would rarely try to calm down dad when he was on one of his tirades against P...more

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Beyond Mr. Darcy:...: August Group Read	4	9	Sep 13, 2012 06:52am
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About Bette Greene

Bette Greene’s award-winning classic novels will be celebrating 40 years in print!

As an award-winning author, screenwriter and news reporter, Bette Greene is read worldwide in over 16 languages. Bette continues her legacy of writing and speaking for the victimized. Within the heartbeat of her storytelling and the realism of her prose lies Bette’s demand that her readers feel what she feels and see...more

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Books by Bette Greene

Philip Hall Likes Me. I Reckon Maybe. (Beth Lambert, #1)

Morning Is a Long Time Coming (Summer of My German Soldier, #2)

Get on Out of Here, Philip Hall (Beth Lambert, #2)

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“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.” — 24 people liked it

“Like the Bible tells us, when a man will lay down his life for a friend, well, then there ain't no greater love in this here world than that.” — 12 people liked it

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Summer of my German Soldier (Summer of My German Soldier #1)

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