Facing the Enemy
How a Nazi Youth Camp in America Tested a Friendship
Astra Publishing House · Print & ebook · December 5, 2023
What do you do when your best friend becomes the enemy?
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- Who it’s for
- A novel in verse brings American extremism into sharp focus through one friendship tested by ideology.
- Themes
- American right-wing extremism, Antisemitism, Friendship across ideological divides
- Genres
- Holocaust Stories for Teens, War & Military YA, Prejudice & Racism for Teens
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Start with this bookAbout this book
What do you do when your best friend becomes the enemy? Growing up in Newark, NJ, in the 1930s, Tommy Anspach and Benjy Puterman have always done everything together. It never mattered that Benjy was Jewish and Tommy was of German descent. But as Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party comes to power in Germany and war brews in Europe, everything changes. Tommy is sent to Camp Nordland, a Nazi youth camp for German Americans, where he quickly learns that Jews are the enemy.
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Heartbroken by the loss of his friend, Benjy forms a teen version of the Newark Minutemen, an anti-Nazi vigilante group, all the while hoping that Tommy will abandon his extremist beliefs. Will Benjy and Tommy be able to overcome their differences and be friends again? Based on real-life events and groups like the Newark Minutemen and the pro-Nazi German American Bund, this daring novel-in-verse reveals the long history of American right-wing extremism, and its impact on the lives of two ordinary teens.
Friendship Under Pressure
A novel in verse brings American extremism into sharp focus through one friendship tested by ideology.
Come here for
- A friendship strained by Nazi influence in 1930s America
- Teen resistance against the pro-Nazi movement
Expect
- A novel in verse rooted in real-life events and groups
- A direct, unsettling look at extremism’s impact on two teens
Where it sits
| Prejudice & Racism for Teens | 72% |
|---|---|
| Holocaust Stories for Teens | 66% |
| War & Military YA | 58% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- War & Military YA
- Jewish YA
- Prejudice & Racism for Teens
- Authors
- Barbara Krasner
- Publisher
- Astra Publishing House
- Published
- December 5, 2023
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- American right-wing extremism · Antisemitism · Friendship across ideological divides
- Reading lane
- War & Military YA