{read: WWII moral dilemma fiction} The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

The Storyteller is Jodi Picoult's best book in recent years. The story of a scarred — inside and out — young woman who is asked to forgive and then kill a Nazi who worked at a concentration camp will draw you in. Sage Singer can't imagine how Josef Weber, who is a retired high school teacher and a pillar of the community where he now lives, was ever a Nazi. But then he tells her about his childhood and his history during the war, and she's appalled. She calls the FBI to report Weber, and when the investigator learns that Sage's grandmother is a Holocaust survivor, he asks if she might be able to identify him. This is first time Sage has heard about what her grandmother endured, although she's always known about the concentration camp tattoo on her arm.

While the beginning and end of this story are trademark Picoult with ethical dilemmas and alternating points of view, the strength of the book is the center, where Sage's grandmother tells the story of what it was like to be a Jew in Poland when Hitler came to power in Germany. I've read several WWII books, but this one is powerful. I'd recommend the book for the center section alone. That being said, I thought the ending was rushed and left some things unresolved. I don't need things to all be tied up neatly, but there were some issues raised near the end that deserved more time than they got.

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult (Atria/Emily Bestler Books, 2013)
My rating: 4 stars

{read: WWII love story} Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively

I read Moon Tiger for a book discussion and am so glad I did. I loved Claudia's voice and her irreverent point of view. Some book club members found her unlikeable, but she is just as harsh on herself as she is on others and doesn't hesitate to point out her own shortcomings as a person and especially as a mother. The writing in this short novel is crisp and tight but contains many big ideas as she writes her circular history of time, combining history of the world with her own personal story.

Another thing I loved about this book is the multiple perspectives, which reinforces the maxim that truth is different for all of us, although no less true for the differences. We see different events in her life from her perspective and then from the point of view of the other person, and of course they see things quite differently.

The characters were well developed, and I wanted to spend more time with them. I thought the ending, which loops back to her love affair during World War II (what Claudia calls 'the core' of her life), was an unexpected touch that helped make the story feel complete. While I think I would have been intimidated by Claudia in person, I loved spying on her from the safe remove of a book. This one goes on my all-time favorites list.

Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively (Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 1987)
My rating: 5 stars

{read: story and war} No One Is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel

In a small Jewish village in Romania on the eve of World War II, the residents decide to reimagine the beginning of the world and create one with only themselves in it in a futile attempt to protect themselves from the war. The story is told by 11-year-old Lena, who thought this might save them from the atrocities of war. But she is soon struggling with her own problems when her parents give her to her aunt and uncle, who have been unable to have a child. In this new world, they figure, why shouldn't they have a child? After all, Lena's mother has three. Surely she wouldn't miss one. This is also a coming of age story and an exploration of what it means to be yourself, as within the space of a few years, Lena is first herself, then another family's child forced to grow rapidly from an infant to an adult, and then a wife and mother. Yet in the outside world, war has continued and the soldiers eventually find their tiny village. Lena has to decide what survival means and what she will do to protect herself, her family, and their stories.

The language and storytelling in this novel are beautiful, and while the beginning requires a suspension of disbelief, the premise kept me reading and I wasn't disappointed. Fans of The Tiger's Wife will like the way Ausubel weaves stories of the past throughout the main plot and explores storytelling as the essential element of life.

No One Is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel (Riverhead, 2012)
My rating: 5 stars

{read: tough choices} Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

I read Those Who Save Us for a book discussion group about two years ago. When I finished it, I thought it was good but not fantastic and gave it three stars. But over time, it was surprising to me how often the characters and situation kept coming back to me, and I've upgraded my rating to four stars and I want to re-read it. It's about the choices you make to keep yourself and your children alive and safe -- in this case, a sort of deal with the devil. Those choices may have an unexpected price that you were unaware of when you made them. It's also about the relationship between a daughter and her mother many years after this deal - of which the daughter is entirely unaware - since the story alternates between current day and World War II. This is another book that shows a different perspective on the war and how it affected everyday people caught up in its path.

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004)
My rating: 4 stars

{read: WWII fiction with a twist} City of Thieves by David Benioff

I just re-read this for a book club discussion and enjoyed it just as much the second time around. I appreciated the very specific premise of this book, perhaps because I read it again during NaNo: Two young men apprehended by the NKVD in Leningrad during the seige are given a possible reprieve from execution: find a dozen eggs before the wedding of the NKVD colonel's daughter on Thursday. That this task is nearly impossible is almost beside the point. That, in the end, it turns out to have been pointless yet costly seems to underscore the futility and insanity of war.

Kolya is a character who's impossible to resist, and his focus on the trivialities of daily life (what characteristics does Lev have that might make him attractive to the young sniper partisan Vika?) makes the cold, the hunger, and the long walks almost seem bearable. Although everything is a struggle for Lev, life seems to come easily to Kolya. Nothing shakes him, and he has a ready plan for every situation. Yet in the end, we see that Lev has more resources than we might have given him credit for.

City of Thieves by David Benioff (Viking Adult, 2008)
My rating: 4 stars

{read: World War II fiction} The Katyn Order by Douglas W. Jacobson

I've started to seek out some World War II novels that tell the less-publicized stories of the war. One great example of this is Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum, which explores the role of Nazi sympathizers and what people will do to survive. Another is Resistance by Owen Sheers, which focuses on what happens in a Welsh village after all the men disappear one night and the Germans occupy the village.

The Katyn Order focuses on the Warsaw Uprising and the Katyn Order, which was signed by Stalin and authorized the execution of 20,000 Polish military officers, lawyers, and other educated people. When the bodies were discovered, Russia and Germany each blamed it on the other country. The protagonist, Adam, is searching for a copy of the order to have proof that Russia was the aggressor.

I found this book hard to put down, despite the war atrocities and cruelty that occurred. The romance is a secondary story, and Jacobson brings the fear and desperation of the 1940s to life. He doesn't hesitate to let bad things happen to characters that you like.

The Katyn Order by Douglas W. Jacobson

My rating: 4 stars