Facing the Enemy: How a Nazi Youth Camp in America Tested a Friendship. Barbara Krasner. 2023. [December] 359 pages. [Source: Library]
Genre(s): Historical fiction, MG fiction, World War II, Verse Novel, Dual Narrators
First sentence: It's late spring, almost summer, 1937.
Premise/plot: Facing the Enemy is set in America [in New Jersey] in the late 1930s and early 1940s. It has dual narrators: Benjy Puterman and Thomas Anspach. These two friends will spend years not being friends because of ideology. Thomas's parents want him [essentially] to attend a Nazi Youth Camp right in New Jersey. For years--YEARS--Benjy witnesses his former best-best-best friend from childhood transform into someone unrecognizable. The town the two live in has a large Jewish population, but right in their metaphorical "backyard" they are facing Nazis of their own. There is an author's note about the time period; there really was a Nazi Youth Camp in New Jersey that was eventually shut down early in the 1940s.
My thoughts: I wanted to like this one more than I actually liked it. I did learn something from reading this one. I knew that there were Nazi sympathizers in the United States, and those who were just against the war. I didn't know there were actual-actual Nazi Youth Camps training up young men to hate, indoctrinating them, etc.
This one presents a challenge having dual narrators. Readers spend half their time--at least--living in the headspace of Thomas Anspach. There's this squirmy space. Is it okay ever to empathize with his struggles? I think the answer is yes. But it takes work--a lot of work--to see beyond crisp clear lines of black and white, good and evil. Thomas is more complex than that. His home life is more complex than that. And it isn't that a bad home life equals free forgiveness for life no matter what. Thomas from page one isn't the same Thomas by the end of the book. That arc exists for a reason.
© 2024 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
The premise of "Facing the Enemy" intrigued me, delving into a dark corner of American history often overlooked. Krasner's portrayal of the ideological struggle between childhood friends adds a layer of complexity to the narrative. The exploration of Thomas's transformation challenges readers to confront the blurred lines between good and evil, making this historical fiction a thought-provoking read.
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