The Young Adult Historical Fiction Society discussion

Here is the topic to discuss "Violins of Autumn." Let us know your thoughts on this book :-) Isn't the front cover lovely?

I really liked this novel. It was disturbing but interesting. Adelle feels really realistic. She wanted adventure to begin with but she understands what she's doing and is able to process her feelings about it. The Germans are portrayed as both bad and good and even the Allies are shown doing bad things at the end. I liked that balance because too often in YA books the story is biased in one direction and the characters do things without understanding the consequences.

I didn't like the present tense first-person narration because it limited the explanation of what was happening... "Germans are doing bad things to children" that's the understatement of the 20th century! For those who may not know, I think it needed a bit more explanation. It also lacked an author's note on the history behind the story.

I only had a few plot quibbles namely the epilogue. What happens next?
also
(view spoiler)[

The biggest problem I had was
(view spoiler)[The bad guys were so easy to spot! I'm not sure I would have suspected Shepherd if Adele didn't but Fred was sooo easy to spot even without the big clue. (My dad would so have a heart attack if anyone referred to his beloved Boston Red Sox as the Boston Yankees! He went into mourning when one of the championship Sox team members jumped ship to the Yankees.) (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]