The seventies are deliberate a gilded age for immature adultliterature , and Bette Greene’sSummer of My German Soldierremains one of the decade ’s defining YA classics . Greene ’s 1973 launching novel , about a 12 - twelvemonth - honest-to-goodness Jewish girl in rural Arkansas who befriends a German captive of war in the former 1940s , was embraced by critic and lector alike , and it ’s still a mainstay on school reading lists . Whether you ’re a longtime buff or a new reader , here are a few affair you might not recognize about the book and its outspoken author . ( Spoilers consist ahead . )
Greene wasbornin Memphis , Tennessee , but spent her early puerility about 35 geographical mile west in Parkin , Arkansas , where her parents owned and operated a world-wide storecalledEvensky ’s Dry Goods . When she was only 9 years old , Greene wrote an eyewitness news report of a fervidness at a local dairy farm and air the article to the Memphis daily newspaperThe Commercial Appeal , which reportedlypurchasedthe story for 18 cent ( about $ 2.75 in today ’s market ) . Greene would go on to write for the paper while she was a student at Memphis State University before finally joining the staff as a reporter .
2. It took Bette Green five years to writeSummer of my German Soldier.
After graduating high school in 1952 , Greene studied afield in France and attend to several university , include Columbia in New York , before marry aneurologistin 1959 and settling near Boston . Greene restrain honing her written material science during and after college , working as a journalist and a public information officer , but it was n’t until after the birth of her daughter that she tried her hand at compose fable . It look at her half a decennium to finish the ms .
3.Summer of my German Soldierstruggled to find a publisher.
grant toPublishers Weekly , Summer of My German Soldierwas rejected by 18 publishers before it was finally accepted by Dial Press , a respected home whose catalogue included titles by James Baldwin and Norman Mailer . Dial was richly honour for its religious belief in Greene ’s entry novel;Summer of My German Soldierwas put out to widespreadcritical acclaimin 1973 and became a finalist for a 1974 National Book Award . ( Itlostto Eleanor Cameron ’s supernatural mysteryThe Court of the Stone Children . )
allot to Greene ’s obituary inThe Washington Post , the first softback book printing sold more than a quarter of a million copies .
4.Summer of my German Soldieris largely autobiographical, though Bette Greene spent 40 years denying it.
The parallel between the life of Bette Greene and Patty Bergen , the unseasoned heroine ofSummer of My German Soldier , were numerous . Like her best - known protagonist , Greene was a Jewish person who grew up in a preponderantly Protestant Arkansas townspeople and enjoyed a formative relationship with a inglorious housekeeper diagnose Ruth . Greene even had grandparent who lived in nearbyWynne , Arkansas , site of a German POW inner circle during World War II . Still , Greene did n’t acknowledge the autobiographic nature of the book until 2011 , during aninterviewwith Open Road .
“ Summer of My German Soldieris base on a true story , ” Greene told Open Road . “ It take place that a Jewish girl , during [ World War II ] , gave nutrient and shelter to a German prisoner of war . … It ’s about my life . I spent forty years denying it was about my life , but it was a fib that was bursting out to be told . ”
5.Summer of my German Soldierwas adapted into an Emmy-winning made-for-TV movie.
Five years after the publishing ofSummer of My German Soldier , NBC aerate a made - for - television system adjustment starring Kristy McNichol , Bruce Davison , andGood Timesstar Esther Rolle . Rolle ’s powerful performance as Ruth , the maid who do as the main eccentric ’s foster mother , earnedher a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie . The movie piece up additional nominations forBest Drama or Comedy SpecialandOutstanding write for a Limited Series or Special , and it landed its screenwriter , Jane - Howard Hammerstein , a 1979Humanitas Prizefor telly composition .
Summer of My German Soldieralso marked the screen debut of Robin Lively , who would go on to role inPunky Brewster , Teen Witch , Twin Peaks , andThe Karate Kid Part III .
6. In one Arkansas town, students were given permission to deface their assigned copies ofSummer of my German Soldier.
summertime of My German Soldieroften finish up onbanned books lists , but thanks to the support of teacher , bibliothec , and the local school board , Greene ’s novel overcame an attempt to strike it from the program in Clinton , Arkansas . It did n’t endure unscathed , though ; students were present permission to scribble out any passages they did n’t wish . When asked byLibrary Talkwhether she considered the metre to be censoring or defacement , Greene respond that she just thought it was “ idiocy . ”
7.Summer of my German Soldierhas a sequel.
8. Bette Green went on to write what is considered one of the first Young Adult novels to tackle anti-gay violence.
In 1991 — seven years before the murder ofMatthew Shepard — Greene publishedThe Drowning of Stephan Jones , a harrowing account of a hatred criminal offense that results in the death of a young gay humankind . Greene , who could not abide iniquity or bigotry in any shape , spend years search the Word , conductingan incredible 485 interview in eight Department of State with perpetrators of anti - gay violence and their families and acquaintances . The Bible was inspire by the 1984murder of Charlie Howardin Bangor , Maine . ( Five years before , the same killing hadservedas the cornerstone for the murder of Adrian Mellon in Stephen King’sIt . )
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