The Children's War - Softcover

Charlesworth, Monique

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1400032075 ISBN 13: 9781400032075

Publisher: Anchor Books, 2005

Synopsis

This is the story of two children caught in the midst of war.It is 1939 and thirteen-year-old Ilse, half-Jewish, has been sent out of Germany by her Aryan mother to a place of supposed safety. Her journey takes her from the labyrinthine bazaars of Morocco to Paris, a city made hectic at the threat of Nazi invasion. At the same time in Germany, Nicolai, a boy miserably destined for the Nazi Youth movement, finds comfort in the friendship of Ilse's mother, the nursemaid hired to take care of his young sister. Gripping and poignant, The Children's War is a stunning novel of wartime lives, of parents and children, of adventure and self-discovery.

About this title

Review:

"Richly satisfying and utterly absorbing. . . . Fascinating and original. . . . Charlesworth tells the story so artfully that she brings an utterly fresh perspective to bear on familiar psychological territory." --Robert MacNeil, The Washington Post Book World"Breathlessly suspenseful. . . .[Charlesworth] moves her story through fast, terrifying intricacies of plot. . . . [Her] greatest success is to show how these children grow into morally mature adults, learning about treachery not just by seeing it around them, but by making difficult and sometimes terrible choices themselves. . . . Engrossing." -The New York Times Book Review"Rich in local color and character detail. . . . Powerful and poignant. With her cinematic eye for description and her story's propulsive narrative rhythm, Charlesworth thrusts us into the very heart of chaos." --The Boston Globe"In her evocative story of adolescents groping, without guide or compass, through the labyrinth of war, Charlesworth tells us hauntingly what happened to these children and how they struggled to survive." --The Baltimore Sun

From the Publisher:

Ilse is only twelve when she begins to lose things. Her home. Her language. Her name. As the Nazis tighten their hold on Germany and war grinds closer, her worried mother sends her into exile, fearing that Ilse's part-Jewish blood will place her in jeopardy. Her refugee life blows her across shifting borders: Morocco; Paris; Marseilles; always a step ahead of the occupying force, always longing to be rejoined with her beloved mother. A harrowing flight from Paris throws her in the path of a guardian angel, a dazzling and intense young soldier, Francois. As the war eats up the years, Francois draws her into the dangerous work of resisting the enemy. No longer a child, she finds her heart engaged in ways she can barely begin to understand. Told with beauty and power, A CHILDREN'S WAR is an epic story of the war that the historians never recorded.

About this edition

• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1400032075
• ISBN 13: 9781400032075
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384