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Auslander [Hardcover]

Paul Dowswell
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (2 Mar 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747589097
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747589099
  • Product Dimensions: 20 x 13 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 330,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Paul Dowswell
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Product Description

Review

`A heart racing thriller about courage, convictions and the construction of identity'
--The Bookseller, 19/26th December 2008

'Powerful'
-- Financial Times

`An unusual war-story of intense excitement'
--School Librarian

`A good historical novel that opens up new layers of understanding for the reader: offering fresh perspectives on something you thought you knew a bit about; beaming a bright light onto some of history's darkest moments, revealing a panoply of unexpected, neglected characters . . . A gripping read' --NATE Classroom Issue 11

`Extremely powerful and compelling. I loved it because it's not the usual WWII book that one would expect'
--The Teacher

Review

'A breakthrough into the top league for Dowswell, a hugely impressive thriller set during the Second World War There will be many adults sneakily borrowing this from their children' The Bookseller 'Doswell is one of the best new writers of historical fiction for children [Auslander] steps outside the victim culture of novels such as those by Morris Gleitzman and comes close to classics such as 'The Silver Sword'. Admirers of 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' should look at this novel as a model of imaginative sympathy' The Times 'An exceptional novel, persuasive in its details, with an utterly compelling story and powerful message' Waterstones Books Quarterly 'Auslander is a superlative, at times almost agonisingly compelling, piece of historical fiction The climactic escape to freedom is pure muck-sweat tension' The Financial Times

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Auslander 8 Oct 2009
By cbd
Format:Hardcover
A brilliant story of danger and survival in Nazi Germany.

Polish orphan Peter is 'Volksdeutscher' - of German blood, and looks the Aryan ideal with his blond hair and blue eyes. He is sent to Berlin, where he is invited to live with the Kaltenbach family. He soon realises that he does not share Professor and Frau Kaltenbach's pro-Nazi ideals. At first he thinks that he is alone in not accepting the Nazi ideology that's all around him, but gradually he realises that he is not alone. He falls in love, and becomes involved with the highly-dangerous anti-Nazi free-thinkers, which includes assisting Jews that have gone underground. He also discovers, on more than one occasion, that you can't always judge someone by first impressions.

The story vividly portrays the dangers of wartime Berlin. Peter appears to be the ideal Hitler-Jugend member; obedient, brave and in good physical health. Underneath, though, he never loses his compassion and generosity of spirit. The story doesn't flinch from giving details of what might (and frequently did) happen to those judged dispensible by the Nazis, but doesn't dwell on the cruelty. This would be a great "background" read for those interested in discovering more about this period of history. It is also ideal for demonstrating that not all Germans were Nazis - a common misconception among the young.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Unputdownable 3 Nov 2009
By Ophelia
Format:Hardcover
Ths grabs you from the first page. My 13 year old picked it up from the library as it's being reviewed for a teenbook prize. He read it in one sitting, so I thought I'd see what the fuss was about. Thought-provoking, good characterisations, well researched and thoroughly readable to any age.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Auslander 22 Jan 2010
By Jenny, Wondrous Reads TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
I'm a big fan of fiction set in and around the Second World War. I don't know what it is that fascinates me, all I know is that it's a particular point of interest, and has been the subject of some of my favourite books. Auslander is a great addition to war fiction, and though it's not up there with The Book Thief or The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, it's most definitely worth a read.

By reading the first page alone, you can tell Dowswell has done his homework. His attention to detail is almost flawless, as is his ability to paint a clear picture of wartime Germany and its surrounding areas. Warsaw in 1941 is a scary place to be, and that's where Peter's story starts. From there, he's sent to a family in Germany, introduced to Nazi propaganda, and deemed an auslander -- a foreigner. He also stumbles across proof of medical experiements being tested on jews, and becomes tangled up in a dangerous web of lies and deceit. It's all for a good cause, but it doesn't do him any favours as a respected member of the Hitler Youth.

I can't even imagine what it must have been like to be a teenager during WWII. Most of their choices were stripped away, and they lived in a constant fear of being bombed or killed because their hair wasn't the right colour. With Auslander, Dowswell tries to show that fear and uncertainty and, for the most part, he manages to. I personally wanted to see more of the Hitler Youth, and how that affected the children and teenagers enlisted. I also would have liked a first person narrative, so I could have read how Peter was feeling, and how everything was really affecting him. Without being in his head, I did have some trouble warming to him, and by the end of the novel, I still wasn't fully convinced.

The Reiter family, who were my favourite characters, reminded me very much of Hans and Rosa Huberman from The Book Thief. Compassionate and selfless, they put others first, even if it meant dying themselves. There's no better message to convey than that of acceptance and equality, and that's what I've taken away from Auslander. The pace could have been faster, and the characters easier to identify with, but in the end, it's all about Peter's story. And what an important story it is.
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