Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene

A thought-provoking and heart-wrenching book, Summer of My German Soldier is the story of Patty Bergen, a 12-year old Jewish girl living in a small city in Arkansas during World War II. During the summer she turns twelve, her hometown becomes the site of a camp housing German prisoners. Even though she's Jewish, she begins to see Anton Reiker, one of the prison escapees, not as a Nazi, but as a lonely, frightened young man with feelings not unlike her own. She develops a relationship with him, and she risks her family, friends-even her freedom-to keep their relationship intact. A very poignant, tragic novel that will appeal to mature readers everywhere.