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Find Your Own American A Boy's Inspiring Journey From Nazi Germany to Freedom in America!
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June 23, 2026The first half of this book is a personal account of events surrounding the American occupation of Berlin, and the second half is about the author's experience of naturalization as an American citizen.
I originally read it when I was 13, and that's probably the best age to start with. It's geared toward "youngsters" but does make mentions of rape by the Soviets.
I had forgotten pretty much all the content apart from the arrival of the Americans in Berlin, and thus, learned much on this re-read that I'd seemingly never heard before (I likely did not have enough knowledge of WWII back in 2011 to recognize the information as significant). For example, Japanese fire balloons landed in several American states. Further research reveals they killed 6 people in Oregon, and undetonated ones are still being discovered as recently as 2019. I was also unaware of the entire Berlin Airlift operation.
Other fascinations include America's careful decision to send noncombatant soldiers into Berlin to reduce incidences of revenge between the two militaries; or the way Peter lost all his German tongue after he moved to America, and it did not even come back to him when he took German classes in high school.
Despite its very 2011 attitude toward immigration and its need for a second round of line edits, it's a lovely book filled with instances of a term I learned from Jonathan Haidt: "moral beauty." It would look great on every American's bookshelf.
I originally read it when I was 13, and that's probably the best age to start with. It's geared toward "youngsters" but does make mentions of rape by the Soviets.
I had forgotten pretty much all the content apart from the arrival of the Americans in Berlin, and thus, learned much on this re-read that I'd seemingly never heard before (I likely did not have enough knowledge of WWII back in 2011 to recognize the information as significant). For example, Japanese fire balloons landed in several American states. Further research reveals they killed 6 people in Oregon, and undetonated ones are still being discovered as recently as 2019. I was also unaware of the entire Berlin Airlift operation.
Other fascinations include America's careful decision to send noncombatant soldiers into Berlin to reduce incidences of revenge between the two militaries; or the way Peter lost all his German tongue after he moved to America, and it did not even come back to him when he took German classes in high school.
Despite its very 2011 attitude toward immigration and its need for a second round of line edits, it's a lovely book filled with instances of a term I learned from Jonathan Haidt: "moral beauty." It would look great on every American's bookshelf.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review