Author: Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Standalone
Paperback
Pages: 202
Year Published: 2008
Publisher: Scholastic
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Description:
Day 264
It's morning. Soft gray light slips over the tall redbrick wall. It stretches across the exercise yard and reaches through the high, barred windows. In a cell on the ground floor, the light shifts dark shapes into a small stool, a scrawny table, and a bed made of wooden boards with no mattress or blanket. On that bed, a thin, huddled figure, Helmuth, a boy of seventeen, lies awake. Shivering. Trembling.
It's a Tuesday.
The executioner works on Tuesday.
First Sentence:
"It's morning."
Cover Comments:
I really like the cover. It was a big factor in me wanting to read it. I like the dark grey blue black colors. I really like the placement of the title and the font used.
Title Thoughts:
It is very reflective of the story. I think it is very attention grabbing and memorable.
Review:
I loved reading this book. It is very well written in all aspects and was noticeably different from any war book that I've ever read. I was impressed with the plot and characters (which were based on real people). I especially liked how it was told through a German during World War II.
I am actually surprised by how much I enjoyed reading it and by how enthralled and captivated I was. I've read my fair share of war books and was hoping it would not simply be reiteration of things I'd already read. It offered new, insightful ideas and interpretation. This was remarkably different and it held my interest.
I wouldn't mind reading this again. I think my sister would like this book so I should convince her to read this one if she can borrow it from a library.
This book had philosophical elements that were entwined very neatly and subtly within and it was thought-provoking. It is not simply a "war book" it is so much more. Helmuth's family as very real. His friends and the events were told in a very real way. I greatly appreciate how it was filled with such maturity from such a young boy. I would recommend this book. Read this book, it's very good.
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