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Summer of Fire
by Karen Bass
Regina: Coteau Books,
2009, ISBN 978-1-55050-415-6, 271 pp., $12.95 paper. (Teen Fiction)
Summer of Fire, for middle teen readers and up, is the second book by northern Alberta writer Karen Bass. Her first book, Run Like Jäger, was a prize-winner, and this one seems likely to follow the same course. Like her previous book, the story takes place in Germany, with two timelines: the present and World War II Germany. The main characters are teenage girls, one in each time period.The story opens with sixteen-year-old Del (Delora) arriving in Germany from Canada. Del has been sent by her parents to spend the summer in Hamburg with her older sister Cassandra and her brother-in-law Mathias because she is frequently in trouble--including having been caught having sex. Del is upset that her parents have scared off her boyfriend and separated her from her friends for two whole months. She is further upset when she learns that her "banishment" is partly because her parents are having marital problems and want her out their way.
Mathias seems sympathetic, as does their neighbour/landlord Luise Konrad, but Del finds it impossible to get along with the uptight Cassandra, who wants to run everyone's life by constantly making rules and plans and following lists. Then Luise asks Del to read the diary of her grandmother, Garda Kurz, which she is translating from German into English in hopes of getting it published. As she reads the gripping diary, Del begins to view her own problems differently.
The diary begins in November 1942 in Heidelberg. Teenaged Garda has been raped by Faber Ott, a friend of her best friend's boyfriend. Because Faber is a soldier, nobody except her father believes her version of the incident, and her father won't go against Garda's mother, who is a zealous Nazi and particularly enraged that her daughter would accuse a brave soldier when she herself is to blame. Soon Garda realizes that she is pregnant, which only increases her mother's anger.
The diary sections effectively alternate with the present-day story. Both girls struggle with being misunderstood, and when Garda is banned to Hamburg prior to the baby's birth, Del begins to identify with her. As Del reads about Garda dealing with falling bombs, firestorms, and the threat of having her baby killed or taken from her, she realizes that her own situation could be far worse. Then, when she rebels against the rules her sister has imposed on her, Del gets into a dangerous situation herself.
Both story lines are compelling reading. As well, details of romance will appeal to young readers. In the present, Del becomes enamoured with Luise's handsome nephew, while in the war story, Garda becomes friends with a young U-boat officer.
Although Summer of Fire is for teens, I enjoyed it too. Seeing the German viewpoint during the war is thought provoking, as is seeing both sides of Del's rebellious behaviour. Readers will perhaps empathize with both viewpoints in the present-day problem, as well as in the historical conflict.
Donna Gamache is the author of Spruce Woods Adventure (Compascore Manitoba) as well as many short stories for both children and adults.
Buy this book at McNally-Robinson Booksellers.