Really absorbing account of two young people caught in World War II. A girl was mostly in southern France, trying to avoid being picked up by the Gestapo since she was half-Jewish and had no papers, and a young boy was mostly in Hamburg, trying to survive with family from the horrible bombings, etc. This one is worthwhile. I was hoping the two characters would meet each other at the end, however, they did not. ( )

The Children’s War by Monique Charlesworth is a story of two children caught up in World War II. Thirteen year old Ilse, is half-Jewish and has been sent out of Germany by her mother to a place of supposed safety. Her journey takes her from Morocco to Paris. Meanwhile, in Germany, Nicolai, a young boy who is destined for the Nazi Youth movement, is miserable and finds comfort in the friendship of Ilse’s mother, the nursemaid haired to take care of his young sister.

The books explores the wartime lives of both parents and children and is an original and absorbing read. ( )

The Children's War / Monique Charlesworth
3 stars

In 1939, Ilse is just about to turn 13 when her mother sends her away from Germany to live with her uncle in Morocco. Ilse is half Jewish on her father’s side and her mother is worried for her. Unfortunately, Ilse’s visa is only good for 6 months, and her uncle is going to fight, himself. Uncle Willy’s wife is not interested in looking out for Ilse, so Ilse is sent to France to meet up with her father. The idea is that her mother will join them later. In the meantime, her mother has found good work in Hamburg as a housekeeper, where there are children living. 13 (or 14)-year old Nicolai will soon be part of the Hitler Youth.

The book goes back and forth between Ilse’s and Nicolai’s perspectives. I found Ilse’s story much more interesting, but even that wasn’t as good as many other WWII books I’ve read (in my opinion). Could it be because I’ve read too many? Possibly, or maybe in-part, anyway. I did enjoy some of the secondary characters (at least in Ilse’s story), and I liked the ending (also for Ilse’s part of the story). ( )

Set during WWII, The Children's War follows Ilse Blumenthal and Nicolai Bucherer in two parallel story lines.
Ilse Blumenthal is a thirteen year old with a Christian mother and Jewish father. Her mother sends her to Algeria to live with her uncle, but she ends up being sent to Paris to live with her estranged father when her uncle enrolls in the French Foreign Legion. Ilse longs for her mother, who was the parent who consistently loved and cared for her. Her father, Otto, is an ineffectual parent. Since they engage in little dialogue, her relationship with him is based almost entirely in her imagination and her ideal of what a father should be. Eventually Otto is arrested and Ilse has to fend for herself.

Ilse mother, Lore, is working as a nursemaid in Hamburg and agonizes over when she will see her daughter again. One of the children she is in charge of is thirteen year old Nicolai Bucherer. Nicholai is devastated by his father's absence, and feels alienated from his family, especially since his mother is emotionally distant from him. He secretly hates the Nazi's and eventually learns of Lore's daughter, who, along with Lore, occupies his thoughts.

In The Children's War, Charlesworth writes beautifully. She includes details and descriptions that set the tone and the place for each scene. Historical events are allowed to propel the story forward while the tension mounts. As the story progresses and the children mature, she gives their characters better insight into the events surrounding them, as children caught up in something they can do nothing about.

One of the themes involves the devastation that results from parental failure. Both Ilse and Nicolai long for the presence of caring, compassionate parents, but they are denied this. The war is larger than their comprehension and seemingly changes moralities and loyalties. Small weaknesses in people are amplified when the stakes are life or death.

The two parallel story lines never intersect in The Children's War. In fact, at the very end, the novel follows only Ilse. While I appreciated both story lines, in many ways Nicolai's story could have been left out of the book because it ended quite abruptly and left me feeling that it was incomplete. It was also the less compelling of the two stories.
Very Highly Recommended - I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/

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I was slow to get into this book as characters are slow to develop. I did not "get" Ilse's father Otto at all. In time he turns into a very interesting, complicated character who does not behave as a father should.
This is a second world war book that tells the story of 2 children both born in Germany. Ilse, just 13 gets sent by her mother to Morrocco to her cousins as the book starts. She later winds up in the thick of war in France with her father.Her survivor story is very engrossing and wonderfully detailed of what it is like to live through a war. Ilse lives in a brothel for a time, sews for a living, and meets and falls for a resistance fighter. She begins transporting messages herself. She is an amazing character.
In Germany is Nicolai, also a child, but a privaleged German child who, unwillingly ,but does become part of the Hilter youth. his brother is an SS officer and his mother has an affair with a German officer. The connection to Ilse is through her mother Lore who winds up as the housekeeper/ nanny for the family. It is through Lore that we connect the two stories although the 2 children never meet.
This was a powerful story. The detail is vivid, the story engrossing. ( )