Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

 Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene 311 pgs.

12 year old Patty Bergen is trying to keep herself busy during one hot, dull summer in 1940s era Arkansas. The only girls she might dare call friends are off at the Baptist summer camp. This was not an option for her since she is Jewish and her parents forbid her to attend. Sometimes she hangs around her father's general store in hopes of helping out and maybe earning some affection or appreciation from her parents. That is a pipe dream however; Patty's parents are horrendous to her. She is a victim of verbal, emotional, and physical abuse. If it wasn't for her grandparents who she sees occasionally when her family visits Memphis and her kind maid Ruth, Patty's life would be even more miserable. 

 One day a train arrives in Jenkinsville carrying German POWs. The whole town buzzes with  excitement at this. Patty helps one of the prisoners, Anton, when the men are brought in to her father's store to buy straw hats to wear as they work in the fields outside of town. They form an unlikely bond during their brief interaction. She learns that not all Germans are Antisemitic supporters of Adolf Hitler. Later, when Anton escapes the prison camp, he is aided by Patty who provides him with a hideout and food for a day or two before he leaves town. This fateful decision will have severe consequences for Anton and for Patty, as well.

I did like this book. It is an interesting concept to have a German , WW2 POW helped by a Jewish girl. It was difficult reading the passages where Patty is abused verbally and physically by her parents, though.