This whole time, Janke is falling in love for the young German Soldier, Helmut. At first reluctant to talk to him, she soon finds out he doesnt want to be in the war, and she finds herself enjoying their sunday meetings.
Yet on a mission to destroy a bridge, Janke is caught and thrown into jail. Will Helmut betray his contry for Janke?
I was a little dissapointed in the ending, i would have liked a little more closure, and what Janke did after the war was over, but none the less, it was a pleasant read, and i give it 4 Stars!
this is a great love story!NY Public Libraries Books for the Teen Age List 2004 Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award nominee 2004 CCBC Our Choice 2003 Janke has learned to hate the Nazis, until she meets Helmut. In occupied Holland during World War II, sixteen-year-old Janke Visser watches her father's and brother's involvement with the Resistance movement in their small town and longs to help fight the Nazi invaders. But there is tension in the family as her nervous mother fears that their actions will doom them all. Nevertheless, when the opportunity to become a courier for the Resistance presents itself, Janke welcomes it. The danger provides some relief from the harsh realities of war-time life. As living conditions deteriorate and her missions become ever more perilous, it is her hatred of the Nazis that fuels the courage and determination Janke needs to go on. And then she meets Helmut, a young German soldier who doesn't fit the stereotype she has learned to hate so fiercely. Now suddenly she must deal with confusing new feelings for the enemy. But when Janke is captured while helping an Allied airman escape, her fate seems sealed. Unless Helmut is willing to betray his own country When the War Is Over is matha attema's third teen novel set in the Netherlands. A Time to Choose (Orca, 1995) won the Blue Heron Book Award and was a finalist for both the Arthur Ellis Award and the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction. A Light in the Dunes (Orca, 1997) was an American Library Association "Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers" and made the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list. (20030304)