Almost Autumn

By Marianne Kaurin 

     To be honest, this is not my favorite book.  It is fairly difficult to read, it totally left me underwhelmed.  The book is supposed to be about a love story in Norway leading up to the German occupation.  This book is difficult to follow simply because each chapter is from a new perspective.  I am not new to this idea and generally enjoy the creativity of this technique, but this did not add to the character or give anybody a depth of understanding, it seemed very one dimensional.  What could have been an incredibly interesting story ended up flat.  

     This book is told from several different view points.  The main character, Ilse,  is a vapid, self involved young women who defies her parents in order to further her relationship with Hermann Rod.  She does not like the restrictions that have been placed on her for her own safety and is constantly thwarting her parents good intentions.  Hermann Rod, Ilse's love interest, is not Jewish, but is harboring secrets, he claims to want to be an artist, but Ilse has never heard of this desire.  We discover that he is helping a resistance to the German occupation.  His connections give him some trouble and saves many lives, possibly Ilse's.  Isaak is Ilse's father, he knows that he has lost business and they are quickly running out of money.  He wants things to be different and has the foresight to remove all of the money from the bank for safe keeping.  Isaak is taken away one night with no warning, this leaves his dependents at a loss.  The shop has been closed, and they do not know where he has been taken.  Ilse's sister Sonja, is very beautiful, a wonderful seamstress and a pleasure to have around the house, meaning she helps out with cooking a cleaning.  She is very frustrated with Ilse who does nothing to help out.  Of course, after Isaak has been taken, things fall apart, they are living in tenuous times, the Germans come and take the entire family with the help of Ole, their neighbor.  Ole drives a taxi and is sickened by the duty of taking many Jew's, some of them his friends, to the wharf for deportation.  Ole feels that he has no choice but to follow his directions, he fears for his life and his family.  What happens to everyone in this one town in Norway, only finishing the book will tell you.  Does everyone survive the holocaust?  Do they survive incarceration?  Will Ilse be reunited with her family? Hermann?  

     I do appreciate the content of this story, I just wish it would have dealt with more realistic content and focused on fewer viewpoints.  I am giving this book a 2.5 out of 5 and feel that it is appropriate for anybody in fifth thru eighth grade.  It was interesting but  I just wish it hadn't glossed over so many details, it left too much up to interpretation.  

Links

Author Marianne Kaurin

Holocaust Resistance

Non Jewish Resistance

The River Between Us

By Richard Peck 

     This is an interesting story, in that it gives the reader a glimpse into two different time periods.  The most prevalent time is America before and during the Civil War.  Secondly, the reader gets a peak into the beginning of the 1900's.  I loved reading about the road trip, where they had to patch all four tires on the car and it only overheated once.  The real eye opening information is the stories surrounding a small Illinois town near the Mississippi River.  The author masterfully crafts the tenuous path that many American's had to follow in the war between the states.  It also illustrates the depths of racism in this country.

     When a young Leleand Hutchings travels to Grand Tower, Illinois to meet the Pruitts, his father's family. Leland and his younger brother meet their relatives, and as their father spends time with his ailing Aunt Delphine, Leland learns the family history from his Aunt Tilly.  A history that they all lived through as she explains of the time leading up to and through the Civil War.  The Pruitts are a  small family that lived along the Mississippi River in a small town called Grand Tower.  Their father had been missing for years and they aremade ends meet any way they ccould.  Tilly and her twin brother were coming of age, Noah was a very young "Man of the House", and wanted to join the North as tensions escalated.  Tilly had to do a lot of the household chores and mind her sister, Cassie who is very insightful (meaning she sees tragedies of the past and possibly the future).  As war between the states seemed eminent, a river boat stopped off and two mysterious passengers disembarked.
      Delphine and Calinda were unique to say the least, Delphine was beutiful and young and Calinda was a young negro woman.  Their relationship wass what separates them however, they were definitely not master and slave, but how were they connected.  Delphine refused to go any further north and asked for directions to the nearest inn, Ma Pruitt heard them and invited the two to state at the home, they might not have much, but what they had was clean and respectful.  Of course, Noah becomes enamored of the mysterious and beautiful Delphine.  The plot thickens when Noah decided to join the Northern forces and marched off for training, one night Ma Pruitt wakens Tilly with the demand to go save Noah.  Tilly and Delphine prepare to enter Cairo Illinois, where the North has set up camp for their forces.  They discover that Noah is very ill and nurse him back to health.  During their time in Cairo, Tilly finds out the truth about Delphine and Calinda, a truth that I am not going to tell you! 
     The surprises do not stop there.  After Noah is nursed back to health he marches to his first battle, Tilly and Delphine sense that something is not right.  They discover that Noah was shot during the battle  and has lost his arm, they nurse him yet again, until he is strong enough to make the trip to Grand Tower.  When they arrive home, there is yet more tragedy, as they discover Cassie has dwindled down to nothing, Mama Pruitt is gone, having thrown herself into the Mississippi, when she saw a casket being unloaded off of a river boat.  Leland thinks he has a good understanding of his family history until, his father unloads one last secret on their trip home. 
     This is book is very interesting and appropriate for students grade 6 and up.  I would rate this book at a 4 out of 5 stars, just because it may be hard to grasp two very different periods in time, especially ones that are so disparate from the current era.  With that being said if you want to find out the two big secrets, you are going to have to read the book! 

Links 
Books by Richard Peck

History of Illinois during the Civil War

Grand Tower Illinois

The Mississippi River during the Civil War