Facing the Enemy

October 2, 2023
Based on real-life events from 1937 to 1941, this illuminating verse novel by Krasner (Ethel’s Song) traces the evolution of a Nazi youth camp in suburban New Jersey during Hitler’s rise to power and its effect on the friendship of two teens: Jewish American Benjy and German American Tommy. When Tommy’s alcohol-dependent father—still grieving his first-born son who died in Germany before Tommy was born—forces Tommy to attend nearby Camp Nordland to “embrace” his German heritage, Tommy eagerly complies, desperate to win his father’s love and approval. He is quickly swept up in the group’s pro-Hitler/anti-Jewish rhetoric and casts aside his bewildered longtime best friend Benjy. Meanwhile, Benjy, his father, and their Jewish community form an anti-Nazi vigilante organization intending to shut down Camp Nordland. Krasner’s depiction of Tommy’s shifting loyalties between his political stances and his feelings for Benjy reads as somewhat implausible; Benjy’s acutely expressed grief and confusion over the loss of his and Tommy’s friendship, by comparison, portrays Benjy as a deeply sympathetic character, making for uneven narration. Major characters are white. An author’s note, glossary, timeline, and historical photos conclude. Ages 12–up.