Hello! This sounds like a book my 13-year-old would love, but I would like to know more about the sexual content (how explicit?) and also any explicit violence or descriptions that might well come in a book about the Holocaust. Thank you!

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4 years ago
21 answers

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Debrah Roemisch Excellent book for a 13 yr old--nothing explicit. I also do not think it is a good idea to censor what teens read.

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Victoria Miller I wouldn't recommend this for a teen. There is rather explicit sex in it. However, I found the violence in it horrific. And I'm 74.

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Lillie The sex scenes in this book may not be graphic by the standards of some adults, but they are not for a 13 year old.

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Joan No, not for a thirteen year old. There is one pretty serious sexual encounter and references quite often of playing with breasts, butt and more. Just because the two love each other is not a reason to OK this for a young teen. There are lots of references of having trysts in several locations. I don't think young teen minds need to read this.

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Lu You know the maturity level of your child best. However, I believe the sexual content is not really at issue here.
Interestingly a major secondary character is a 13 year old girl who is dealing with the untimely death of her mother. She resents her father’s new much younger bride. This character struggles with high school, family demands and the isolation of her rural Montana environment. She doesn’t begin to grow until she learns these struggles are not unique to her culture or historical period. Jealousy, rage, betrayal, judgmental social pressures, family member who sometimes fail us are all universal themes. I don’t think I would just throw your daughter into this book without making a point that you would like to discuss those themes with her. She could learn a lot.

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Lily I wouldn't recommend it. The thing that I don't like about this book is the pretty explicit sexual encounters. I don't think it is necessary to go into such details.

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Sharon Smith There are scenes of loving sex, quietly and lightly explicit.

There's also a scene that alludes to rape: a woman's physically attacked by two men she thought were friends; at one point it seems they wanted her down "on her knees" but the reason's not specified (I assume forced oral sex). Later she shows a female friend her thighs, which have been damaged, so I assume that meant she was raped.

I would happily have handed this book to my daughters when they were 11 or 12. I started discussing sex and pregnancy with them at age three, using a book meant for children, and left Our Bodies Ourselves where they could easily read it unobserved when they were 10.

So my concerns may be different from others'.

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Deborah Kinate I think this book would be inappropriate for a 13-year old. There is some sexual content and some explicit violence. Probably would be better if your child waited till at least high school to read this.

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Laura Beth I also have a middle school daughter and would probably wait until high school for this one. Great book but I think most would not be ready for it.

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Paula The best way for you to answer these questions is to read the book yourself. Only you know your 13 year old and how and when you want him or her exposed to whatever you find between the covers of any book. Besides, if you've read it you'll be better prepared to discuss it with your child.

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Marilyn No, this is not appropriate for a 13 year old. The lessons in it are important to note but are too strong for a 13 year old. Some situations are too intense.

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Cryss I'm 67 and I read Andersonville at 14 (horrors of Civil War prison camp). This is a great book for a teenager to read. There is far less in this book than there is on HBO, Youtube, TikTok or other places. It does make you reflect and think and be so grateful that the Allies won WWII.

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Carrie there's sex, nothing too explicit, one lady is attacked, but it's the aftermath that was detailed. Not sure about 13, maybe 15, depending on their maturity level...

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Karen G I don't think that it would be a good read for most 13 year olds. Perhaps as her parent, you should read it first and then you can decide.

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Debi Valstad-Lund I read books like this at that age. I devoured books. But in retrospect it would have been nice to have someome older explain or guide me when I read this explicit material. I would say it's on the same level as To Kill a Mockingbird. Disturbing but a lot of life lessons to be learned. Read it with her so you can discuss.

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Mari I would allow a 13 year old to read it. Anything that is mentioned in the book is something you should discuss with a teen anyway.

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Tracy Hi! So did you end up letting your daughter read the book? After reading everyone's responses to you, I was wondering! :)

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Marilyn Brine Gilmour This book is not literally about the Holocaust but of course involves Nazi actions in Paris. The most disturbing actions are not by Nazis (except for the 'denouncement notes' which are educational and could be read by a 13 year old) - but by how the Parisians violently treated the women who consorted with the Nazis during the War.
There is also a brief mutual sexual description between the main character and the man she loves.

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Susan D'Entremont Answering this late, but maybe it will help someone else. The sex scenes are not particularly explicit, and much tamer than what is in many young adult books. But there are some violent scenes at the end of the book that may be more disturbing because they involve characters that readers have grown invested in. I think it would be OK for a mature 13 year old to read, but depending on what they know about Europe during WWII, they may not find it as interesting as they would when they are a few years older.

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soda Not for a 13 year old. It's not censorship to not let a child read specific content. There is sexual content and horrific war content. OK for maybe a 17 yr old but NOT 13.

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