Margaret Button, associate features editor Having Alzheimer's (which she has named Agnes), she will once again become imprisoned and lose everything she knows and loves. I admired Elise and her spirit - she remained strong no matter what cruelties the war threw at her and she always had hope for the future, even at the end of the book, knowing the quality of her life will never be the same. While a work of fiction, "The Last Year of the War" reminded me of "The Diary of Anne Frank," a teenage girl imprisoned during WWII and still having hopes and dreams of life after the war. Elsie and Mariko form a bond that gives them hope for the future, at a time when everything familiar - their homes, friends, belongings and identity - have been stolen from them. I was totally unaware some of those who are of German and Italian birth were also placed in internment camps and the fact many were repatriated to their native countries. Many of us are aware of the detention of people of Japanese heritage that occurred as the country entered World War II, although it was never discussed in any of my high school history classes (Is it now?). "The Last Year of the War" by Susan Meissner was a great summer weekend read - all that was missing was the beach. Here's what we're reading next: "Inland" by Tea Obreht In that devastating crucible, she must discover if she has the will to rise above prejudice and hatred and re-claim her own destiny or disappear into the image others have cast upon her. But when the Sontag family is exchanged for American prisoners behind enemy lines in Germany, Elise will face head-on the person the war desires to make of her. The only thing that makes the camp bearable is meeting fellow internee Mariko Inoue, a Japanese-American teen from Los Angeles, whose friendship empowers Elise to believe the life she knew before the war will again be hers. The family is sent to an internment camp in Texas, where, behind the armed guards and barbed wire, Elise feels stripped of everything beloved and familiar, including her own identity. resident for nearly two decades, is suddenly arrested on suspicion of being a Nazi sympathizer. The Synopsis: Elise Sontag is a typical Iowa 14-year-old in 1943 - aware of the war but distanced from its reach. Publisher: Berkley 1st Edition edition (March 19, 2019) The Book: "The Last Year of the War" by Susan Meissner
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |