Genevieve's War, by Patricia Reilly Giff (BOOK REVIEW)

 

"It's not always thinking of being happy. Doing the right thing will make you happy."

Regardless of her grouchy grandmother and all the farm work, 13 year old Genevieve decides to stay. France isn't that bad and Genevieve can't think of leaving her grandmother alone. But then World War II erupts and the Nazi's come to France. Now everyone must speak German, act like their German and listen to the Germans. French culture has to disappear. When everything seems terrible, it only gets worse when a Nazi commands to stay with Genevieve and her grandmother. Genevieve and her grandmother have to hide their beliefs from the Nazi and sometimes even hide people....

Genevieve's War, by Patricia Reilly Giff was such a sweet book. Right away I could tell that it was written for younger ages. Because of that, the writing was much easier and the story wasn't very complex. I have read a lot of WW II books and the only thing that made this stand out is that the main characters weren't Jewish. I got a look at the people that were on the sidelines and yet very much affected by the war. Like I said before, this book was definitely written for younger ages. The intensity was very and the plot wasn't super interesting. If I read this book when I was 10 or 11 I think I would've enjoyed it much more. It's a great book for that age and a steady introduction to WW II. Patricia Reilly Giff's writing was steady. Everything was explained well and portrayed with details. But I didn't notice much character development and found it very shallow. She knew that she was writing for younger ages and she did that well. 

I recommend this book for ages 10+ and give it a 7 out of 10.

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Happy Reading! -Ariana :)