Thursday, December 25, 2008

The Boy Who Dared


Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. 2008. The Boy Who Dared.

Historical fiction. Based on a true story. Set during World War II. Set in Nazi Germany. This one had all the outer fixings of a novel I'd just love. (Though to be honest, I'm more drawn to memoirs than fiction novels about this time period.) And I did like it. I didn't love it. But it was good. It's a story of courage, of boldness, of standing up and being strong. Could you, would you, do the same? Our hero, our narrator, is Helmuth Hubener. A boy growing into a man during Hitler's reign in Germany. He's not Jewish. He's Mormon. (Or if you prefer LDS). Yet he's so strongly convinced that he must do what is right, what is just no matter the cost to himself. No matter that technically speaking doing what is morally 'right' is legally wrong since Hitler came to power. Powerful story really when you think about it. It was the way it was told that perhaps made this one a 'like' not a 'love.' Still, it's a story worth reading.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

5 comments:

Melissa said...

I agree: powerful story, but the telling was a little off. The thing that impressed me most, being a Mormon, is that she treated my church remarkably well.

Glad you liked it, though.

Melissa said...

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Lezlie said...

Merry Christmas, Becky!
Lezlie

Beth Kephart said...

Becky,

And a merry Christmas, too, to you.

Thank you for your voice today,

Beth

Anonymous said...

Like Melissa said, I was really pleased to see a Mormon character written so well from an author who was not Mormon. They are currently making a movie of this story (adapted from his life not the book) starring Haley Joel Osment. I wish it would hurry and come out already.