Summer of My German Soldier

Summer of My German Soldier

• Genre: Fiction; young adult, historical
• Originally Published: 1973
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 800L; grades 5-9
• Structure/Length: 21 chapters; approx. 240 pages; approx. 7 hours, 34 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Jewish 12-year-old Patty Bergen’s life is turned upside down the summer when her small Arkansas town becomes the site of a German prisoner camp during World War II. Patty risks losing her family, friends, and freedom when she becomes friends with Anton, a Nazi escapee from the camp.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Domestic and emotional abuse; profanity; offensive racial stereotypes; large age gap friendship/romance             

Bette Greene, Author

• Bio: 1934-2020; born in Memphis, Tennessee and raised in Parkin, Arkansas; experienced discrimination as a Jewish girl in a town of Christian fundamentalists; raised by her family’s Black housekeeper, Ruth; spent a year in Paris, France, after high school; became a reporter for United Press International; studied writing and astronomy at Columbia University; 1975 Newbery Honor for Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe
• Other Works: Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe (1974); Morning is a Long Time Coming (1978); Get on Out of Here, Philip Hall (1981); Them That Glitter and Them That Don’t (1983); The Drowning of Stephan Jones (1991); I’ve Already Forgotten Your Name, Philip Hall! (2004)
• Awards: Golden Kite Award (1973); New York Times Outstanding Book Award (1973); ALA Notable Book Award (1973); National Book Award for Children’s Books Finalist (1974); Massachusetts Children’s Book Award (1980)