The Children's War - Softcover

"Richly satisfying and utterly absorbing. . . . Fascinating and original. . . . Charlesworth tells the story so artfully that she brings an utterly fresh perspective to bear on familiar psychological territory." --Robert MacNeil, The Washington Post Book World"Breathlessly suspenseful. . . .[Charlesworth] moves her story through fast, terrifying intricacies of plot. . . . [Her] greatest success is to show how these children grow into morally mature adults, learning about treachery not just by seeing it around them, but by making difficult and sometimes terrible choices themselves. . . . Engrossing." -The New York Times Book Review"Rich in local color and character detail. . . . Powerful and poignant. With her cinematic eye for description and her story's propulsive narrative rhythm, Charlesworth thrusts us into the very heart of chaos." --The Boston Globe"In her evocative story of adolescents groping, without guide or compass, through the labyrinth of war, Charlesworth tells us hauntingly what happened to these children and how they struggled to survive." --The Baltimore Sun

The disintegrating world of Europe in the midst of World War II is seen through the eyes of two youngsters, Ilse, a half-Jewish girl sent out of Germany by her mother to find refuge from the Nazis, and Nicolai, a young boy in Germany who finds refuge from his involvement with the Hitler Youth in his growing attachment to his nurse, Ilse's mother. Reader's Guide available. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.