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Bloomsbury USA Childrens
On sale:
August 2011
Price:
$17.99
Format:
Hardcover
Size:
5.0625 x 7.75 in
Pages:
304 pp
Ages:
12
Grades:
7
ISBN-13: 9781599906331
ISBN-10: 1599906333
The Auslander
By Paul Dowswell
Book Description
A chilling and thought-provoking story of a Polish orphan who refuses to conform to the Hitler Youth
When Peter's parents are killed, he is sent to an orphanage in Warsaw, Poland. But Peter is Volksdeutscher-of German blood. With his blond hair and blue eyes, he looks just like the boy on the Hitler Youth poster. The Nazis decide he is racially valuable. Indeed, a prominent German family is pleased to adopt such a fine Aryan specimen into their household. But despite his new "family," Peter feels like a foreigner-an ausländer-and he is forming his own ideas about what he sees and what he's told. He doesn't want to be a Nazi. So he takes a risk-the most dangerous one he could possibly choose in 1942 Berlin. . . .
Paul Dowswell weaves meticulous research into a thrilling narrative, exposing a different angle of the horrors of Nazi Germany.
“Dowswell presents a familiar portrait of Nazi Germany, but it stands out from a crowded field because of its inclusion of less-familiar elements… The characters are rich and nuanced, flawed people caught up in a terrible time; the action is swift and suspenseful; and the juxtaposition of wartime nobility and wartime cruelty is timeless.”—The Horn Book Magazine
“What it was like to grow up in war-torn Berlin is the core drama here… this is a strong addition to the WWII curriculum.” —Booklist
“This is a different view of Germany during World War II than that usually found in young adult fiction and would provide many discussion points.Highly Recommended.” —Library Media Connection
“An unflinching account of a rarely told side of the Holocaust.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Dowswell takes readers on a thrilling, well-researched adventure through assimilation, resistance, and escape in Nazi Germany, weaving in threads of history that Holocaust literature, to this point, has seldom touched upon. This novel is a superb addition to all collections, combining action-packed adventure with blood-chilling history.”―School Library Journal
©2012 Bloomsbury
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