Friday 6 September 2013

Flashback Friday - Hitler's Daughter by Jackie French

Flashback Friday hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies is a new meme that encourages us to remember a book we read over 5 years ago that is still in print and that we haven't blogged about previously.

Hitler's Daughter by Jackie French won the CBCA Younger Reader's award in 2000. It is regularly set as a school text & has been turned into a play.

I read it about 5 years ago when my stepson was studying it in class. 

I enjoyed it more than he did! But at that point he preferred the Cherub series and books with more action. 
Whereas historical fiction is right up my alley. 

French moves between modern times and WW2 to tell this story that begins with a group of children telling each other stories while they wait for their school bus each day. One day Anna begins a story about a secret girl, hidden away by her father during WW2. As Anna's story progresses we realise that the girl is none other than Hitler's daughter, Heidi.

As Heidi comes to terms with her father's other life, Anna and her friends question the meaning of good and evil and how do you recognise it. Moral dilemma's abound and of course, the big question is, did Hitler's daughter really exist or not?

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous6/9/13

    Great book choice! I've never read this book but it sounds really interesting (I like books that are set in WW2, so...) with a lot of different themes and questions.

    My Friday Book Memes

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  2. What an interesting meme. I read Hitler's Daughter for the first time a few months ago, also with my son as he read it in school. No surprises but I liked it more than he did- not enough Hunger Games/Minecraft/aliens kind of action I suspect.

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  3. I loved it when I discovered great books through my son's school reading. Thanks for the heads up on the meme directory!

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  4. Anonymous9/9/13

    I've never heard of this one -- and I've read quite a bit of children's/MG books with a WWII setting, so it's nice to come across something different that comes recommended. I'll definitely need to check it out. Thanks for joining in for Flashback Friday!

    Lisa

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  5. Sounds very interesting, will have to put it on my to read list.

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