Skip to main content

Things We Didn't Say by Amy Lynn Green

Headstrong and determined, linguistics student Johanna Berglund has very definite plans for her future . . . plans that do not include returning to her hometown and the secrets and heartaches she left behind. But when the only way to her intended future is through undertaking a translator position at a nearby camp for German POWs, she reluctantly accepts.

Johanna arrives to find the once-sleepy Minnesota town exploding with hostility. Most patriotic citizens want nothing to do with German soldiers laboring in their fields, and they're not afraid to criticize those who work at the camp as well. When Johanna describes the trouble to her close friend Peter Ito, a language instructor at a school for military intelligence officers, he encourages her to give the town that rejected her a second chance.

As Johanna interacts with the prisoners and censors their letters home, she begins to see them in a more sympathetic light, but advocating for better treatment makes her enemies in the community. The longer Johanna wages her home-front battle, the more the lines between compassion and treason become blurred--and she must decide where her heart truly lies.

This was a fantastic novel! I love epistolary novels and historical novels and this was a great example. It was refreshing to see WWII from the home front side of things. I really enjoyed the characters as well. Johnanna was spunky and daring and Peter was so kind. I would like to be friends with both of them in real life.  I liked the pacing also. The reader was given little pieces of information here and there that give hints about what is to come. I highly recommend this for historical fiction fans, especially if you like novel told through letters.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass by Katie Powner

A fter years of drifting, fifty-year-old Pete Ryman has settled down with his potbellied pig, Pearl, in the small Montana town of Sleeping Grass--a place he never expected to see again. It's not the life he dreamed of, but there aren't many prospects for a high-school dropout like him. Elderly widow Wilma Jacobsen carries a burden of guilt over her part in events that led to Pete leaving Sleeping Grass decades ago. Now that he's back, she's been praying for the chance to make things right, but she never expected God's answer to leave her flat on her face--literally--and up to her ears in meddling. When the younger sister Pete was separated from as a child shows up in Sleeping Grass with her eleven-year-old son, Pete is forced to face a past he buried long ago, and Wilma discovers her long-awaited chance at redemption may come at a higher cost than she's willing to pay. I really enjoyed this book. The characters in it were interesting and unique. While some thing...
Post a Comment
Read more

4 Weeks Already

Check out my four week muscles! I can't believe that Joash is four weeks old already. It seems like it was just yesterday that was born. Thankfully things are going really well. Today he had another check up with the public health nurse and he is out of the woods weight wise now. I am so thankful for this. Now we can just do our own thing and let Joash take more of the lead as to when he would like to feed and things like that. He always eats so much better when he wants to eat. As he grows, he is more alert too, which is quite fun. It is pretty clear that he needs his sleep though, too. Today's public health visit overlapped with his nap time and was all out of sorts until 1:00 when he finally settled in for a nap after his second feeding following the public health nurse visit. It amazes me how I can be pretty frustrated with him and then looks at me with his big blue eyes and does something cute that makes my heart melt once again.
Post a Comment
Read more

A Perspective

I have already mentioned my "Word of the Day" screen saver that I have on my laptop that is hooked up to the projector in my room. I am learning that the words go in cycles a bit, so the same word will pop up in several classes during the day. Today's popular word was "entitlement." A fantastic word to share with teenagers who often think they are entitled to a whole lot of stuff. In fact, we as humans often think we are entitled to a whole lot of stuff when really we are fallen people who deserve nothing but death. We so often miss how wonderful and blessed our life really is and we get caught up on the little things. This video sort of puts that in perspective in a rather humorous way. I am by no means promoting this comedian, but if you take what he says to heart, it is so true. We live in an amazing world, created by an amazing God. We really should be happy with the blessing we have been given.
2 comments
Read more