Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura E. Williams

From the back cover:

"It is 1942. Korinna, a thirteen-year-old girl in Germany, is an active member of the local Jungmadel, a Nazi youth group, along with many of her friends. She believes that Hitler is helping Germany by dealing with what he calls the "Jewish problem", a campaign she witnesses as her Jewish neighbors are attacked and taken from their homes.

When Korinna discovers that her parents - who are secretly members of an underground resistance group - are sheltering a family of Jewish refugees behind her bedroom wall, she is shocked. As she comes to know the family, her sympathies begin to turn, and when someone tips off the Gestapo, Korinna's loyalties are put to the test. She must decide what she really believes and whom she really trusts."

Sometimes it is difficult to read children's literature as an adult because of what I know. In this case it was especially hard because of the other books I have read about Nazi Germany (Night by Elie Weisel or Diary of Anne Frank) and of course, what I have learned about Auschwitz and other concentration camps in history. I thought the book was well-written with just enough awful information to be shocking (in a good, teaching-sort-of-way) to an adolescent. These young people in Germany were having fun. At the youth group they baked cookies, played games and sang patriotic songs... all while being brain-washed into believing that the Jews (and the infirm, the handicapped or the elderly) were the reason that Germany was in a Depression and if these could be "taken care of" the country would be great again. They were encouraged to harass the other Jewish children and report anyone who was being un-patriotic.

I always read stories like this with a sense of awe for the people who choose to do the right thing, in this case, Korinna's parents helping the Jewish family to escape the "work camps". I wonder if I would be strong enough to risk my life and my family to do what is right. This book addresses those issues but from the standpoint of a teenage girl. It was definitely worth reading. I would be interested to know what a thirteen-year-old might think of this book. I'll have to see if Nick will read it too.