Books with title Summer of My German Soldier: Novel-Ties Study Guide

When the train pulls into the station in Jenkensville, Arkansas, Patty Bergen senses something exciting is going to happen. German prisoners of war have arrived to make their new home in the prison camp. To the rest of the town these prisoners are only Nazis, but to Patty, a young Jewish girl with a turbulent home life, one of the young soldiers becomes an unlikely friend. Anton understands her in a way her parents never could and Patty is willing to lose her own family, friends and even freedom for a boy who becomes the most important part of her life.

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 man with feelings not unlike her own.In Anton, Patty finds someone who softens the pain of her own father's rejection and who appreciates her in a way her mother never will. While patriotic feelings run high, Patty risks losing family, friends -- even her freedom -- for this dangerous friendship. It is a risk she has to take and one she will have to pay a price to keep.

During World War II, when her small Arkansas town becomes the site of a camp for German POWs, 12-year-old Patty learns what it means to open her heart. Although she's Jewish, she begins to see a prison escapee, Anton, not as a Nazi -- but as a lonely young man, a kindred spirit. And Patty is willing to risk losing everything -- even her freedom -- for the sake of their friendship. This thoughtful and hard-hitting novel has become a modern classic.