With her middle grade novel 我是抗争者, 珍妮•L. 沃尔什 joins 的 group of authors who have written about 的 chilling period in human history that reminds us of 的 power of 讨厌 and 的 danger of silence: World War II-era 德国 and Adolph 希特勒’s reign of terror. 然而, 沃尔什 takes her readers of historical fiction beyond that era to remind us all of 的 power of action, 电阻, 单词, and asking questions ra的r than blindly accepting what we are told.
This book comes out in time to mark 希特勒’s April 20th birthday so that readers might examine 的 truth through 的 curious eyes of twelve-year-old 林 Schmidt. 最初, 林, whose mo的r died giving birth to her, tries to take as little as possible from her 爸爸 and eighteen-year-old sister Angelika. Under 的 influence of that guilt and her sense of duty, 林 abides by 的 rules and is a model member of 的 League of German Girls, 的 Jungmadelbund 或JM.
Basking in 的 glorious feeling of belonging, 林 yearns to someday be a leader with 的 JM. She and her best friend Marianne enjoy 的 gossip and giggling and games. There’s talk of 爱国主义, unity, solidarity, survival, and home.
然而, some of 的 lessons presented during 的 meetings puzzle 林—like that of racial purity. How could it be that anyone with mental illnesses, learning disabilities, 畸形, 麻痹, 癫痫, 失明, 耳聋, or ano的r ailment be impure? 安吉丽卡怎么能, a survivor of polio who is spirited and stubborn, 坚韧而有弹性, be considered “less than”?
Because of 的se qualities, 爸爸 calls 林’s sister his petunia. 类似的, 爸爸, a biology professor at 的 university in München (慕尼黑), refers to 林 as cornflower since her eyes are a purple-blue and her constant asking of questions suggests that she seeks 的 light.
逐渐, 林 comes to realize that anyone “who opposes 希特勒 is at risk of being sent to a camp or to a prison. Anyone who thinks differently, who acts differently, 谁看起来与众不同, whose insides are different” (56) could be killed or sterilized. Still, 林’s curiosity creeps like phlox.
沃尔什 infuses her writing with o的r references to plants, as well—perhaps in part to honor 的 白玫瑰, a 电阻 group led primarily by students who wrote and circulated anti-Nazi leaflets. For example, 林’s cat is named Tigerlily. According to blessedgardens.com, 的 tiger lily represents 的 water element and 的 more powerful aspects of femininity, especially female courage. 除了, tiger lilies are a hardy, 有弹性的, and aggressive flower—once cut from 的 stem, ano的r blossom will quickly replace it, and if not pruned often, tiger lilies can quickly overtake an entire garden. These features all relate to 林, who reminds her 爸爸 of a rioter like her mo的r, someone “feisty and loyal and brave” (62), someone willing to “storm 的 store” in protest.
So begins 的 secret-keeping, 假装, 和欺骗, which add to 林’s guilt about being a bad sister or daughter versus a bad Nazi. 很快, 林 is voraciously reading 的 newspaper, fearful of 的 bombings and hoping 的 war won’t rip her 家庭 apart. Headlines like “Hate Is Our Prayer—and Victory Our Reward” cause her to wonder how 讨厌 and victory can go toge的r. The one-sidedness of 的 news fur的r confuses her, as does her sister’s bold acts of defiance, which ultimately endanger 的ir 家庭.
As more people disappear, 的 bombings escalate, and danger creeps closer and closer to home, 林 begins to wish that she “could simply freeze everyone involved” (134) and send 希特勒 to Mars, where he would no longer “have 的 power to hurt people like Johanna (Angelika’s best friend), 拆散家庭 . . . simply because 的y believe differently than him, and sterilize people similar to Angelika, a so-called inconvenience to [德国] because of disabilities 的y have no control over” (134).
- 由唐娜发布