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Rating: 
Summary: timeless children's fiction
Review: I first read "Enemy Brothers" when I was in primary school, and it made the era of World War 2 come alive, with its interplay between world events and every day family drama in rural England during the horrendous period of the Blitz. In search of a wonderful book with which to gift a special young reader, I have looked for it online a number of times in recent years, but have been unwilling to pay a premium for an older copy. So it is especially gratifying to find it available in new paperback form at a reasonable price. Readers, and those who care for young readers, who like or love this book, might also enjoy books by
- - Geoffrey Trease (most especially "Cue for Treason", about a young boy in 16th century England who falls in with a band of travelling players and must use his heart and his wits to save himself and country)
- - Elizabeth Pope (most especially "The Shirwood Ring", a lovely, funny, romantic novel about an orphaned teen-aged girl who, living with an elderly relative in the region of New York State above New York City, meets various ghosts from the Revolutionary War era)
- - Marguerite Vance (including her biographies of Elizabth I of England, Jane Grey, and Martha Washington, which make history come alive in an especially wonderful way for young girls)and
- - Maude Hart Lovelace (all of the Betsy-Tacy books, notwithstanding their being, or being perceived as, politically incorrect, for their portrayal of young teen-aged women growing up in the Mid-West at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries.)
Rating:
Summary: timeless children's fiction
Review: I recommend this book without reservation. The author's long life coincided almost exactly with the 20th century, and this reissue, written during and set in the England of World War II, still speaks to us today. A 12-year-old German boy, Max Eckermann, is taken to England against his will by patriots fleeing occupied Norway. Before the first chapter has ended, an English airman, Dymory Ingleford, has identified Max as his brother Tony, who was kidnapped as a toddler by a childless German woman. Placed with Dym's family, Max's stubborn loyalty to his German citizenship pits him against his loving, but unsympathetic hosts. While the conflict centers on Max and Dym, Savery brings us back over and over to ordinary English citizens cheerfully doing their bit during the darkest hours of the war. Rationing, refugee housing, and wide-spread destruction, not to mention intermittant air attacks, remind us when this is taking place In choosing to personify the "German evil" as "blind obedience to ones nationality" rather than by, say, the horrors of the holocaust (not fully realised when Savery wrote), the book allows us to remain sympathetic with Max, while still retaining bite and relevancy. Be warned that Savery is a Christian writer. Her faith is not obtrusive; nevertheless, it is there.
Rating:
Summary: A Welcome Reissue of a Classic Tale from World War II
Review: I recommend this book without reservation. The author's long life coincided almost exactly with the 20th century, and this reissue, written during and set in the England of World War II, still speaks to us today. A 12-year-old German boy, Max Eckermann, is taken to England against his will by patriots fleeing occupied Norway. Before the first chapter has ended, an English airman, Dymory Ingleford, has identified Max as his brother Tony, who was kidnapped as a toddler by a childless German woman. Placed with Dym's family, Max's stubborn loyalty to his German citizenship pits him against his loving, but unsympathetic hosts. While the conflict centers on Max and Dym, Savery brings us back over and over to ordinary English citizens cheerfully doing their bit during the darkest hours of the war. Rationing, refugee housing, and wide-spread destruction, not to mention intermittant air attacks, remind us when this is taking place In choosing to personify the "German evil" as "blind obedience to ones nationality" rather than by, say, the horrors of the holocaust (not fully realised when Savery wrote), the book allows us to remain sympathetic with Max, while still retaining bite and relevancy. Be warned that Savery is a Christian writer. Her faith is not obtrusive; nevertheless, it is there.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Treasure!
Review: What a book! Written in 1943, the author did not even know the outcome of the war. But the story, set in England at the time the country anticipated a German invasion and before the United States had joined the Allied Forces, begins with 12-year-old Max from Germany being taken away from Norway to England by Dym, a British airman. Dym immediately recognizes Max as his brother, Tony, who was kidnapped as a toddler. Tony, however, wants nothing to do with Dym, or anything or anyone associated with Dym. I wondered throughout the beginning of the book why the plot began with the definitive information that these two were brothers. It seemed as if the story might be more suspenseful if we were to wonder at least for a little while if Max was really Tony. But the wonderful drama unfolds with Tony trying routinely to escape the family which wasn't certain they wanted to love this child because of his hatred of all but Germany, Germans and Hitler. Tony creates havoc for his long-suffering brother Dym, who continues to believe in Tony and continues to hunt him down, rescuing him from near death too often. Throughout all the 'escapes', the members of the family continue to go off to war, help with war efforts, protect themselves from the inevitable bombs, air attacks and mines while dealing with this strong-headed child who does not want to be a part of this family. This is an amazing look into life during the war from one who was living it while the story was being written. The mentality of the Nazi youth is defined in a chilling exchange between Tony and his sister, Euphemia. He tells her that 'whatever serves Germany is right', and 'nothing that serves Germany is ever wrong.' The ending takes a page-turner twist and has a most uplifting and hopeful conclusion. I could not help but think of the author as an incredibly optimistic woman whom I would have loved to have as a neighbor during the war. The book is full of life with characters displaying a deep faith, lasting love for each other, and profound hope for the future and belief in what is right. The author avoids sentimentality and romance which makes this a refreshing book for all young teens, yet adults will find it most enjoyable as well. This is an excellent novel for middle school students interested in war history and it would be a very useful adjunct for educators.
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