Review: Amazing historical fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 28, 2012
I first read this coming of age story 35 Yeats ago, as a teenager. Patty Bergen is  a precocious, 12year old girl, wise beyond her years, intelligent and curious. Unfortunately her parents don't appreciate her huge heart and mind. Set near the end of WWII, Patty's interested when a Nazi POW camp is built in her small Alabama town. She begins to realize the propaganda she's been told may have another side.When she meets escaped POW Anton, the young Jewish girl decided to help him, and learns there are other sides to the war than what she's heard.Patty is a remarkable character, and the preface to this book states that she is not just a fictional character, but the personification of the author Bette Greene.This is not a story just for young adults, but for anyone interested in history, and anyone who enjoys coming of age stories.Besides Patty and Anton, housekeeper Ruth plays a pivotal role in this true story.