Books for Christian Girls: "Things We Didn't Say" by Amy Lynn Green

About this book:

“Headstrong Johanna Berglund, a linguistics student at the University of Minnesota, has very definite plans for her future . . . plans that do not include returning to her hometown and the secrets and heartaches she left behind there. But the US Army wants her to work as a translator at a nearby camp for German POWs.

Johanna arrives to find the once-sleepy town exploding with hostility. Most patriotic citizens want nothing to do with German soldiers laboring in their fields, and they're not afraid to criticize those who work at the camp as well. When Johanna describes the trouble to her friend Peter Ito, a language instructor at a school for military intelligence officers, he encourages her to give the town that rejected her a second chance.

As Johanna interacts with the men of the camp and censors their letters home, she begins to see the prisoners in a more sympathetic light. But advocating for better treatment makes her enemies in the community, especially when charismatic German spokesman Stefan Werner begins to show interest in Johanna and her work. The longer Johanna wages her home-front battle, the more the lines between compassion and treason become blurred--and it's no longer clear whom she can trust.”

Series: The author will have another book set in the same time period, but it is not about these characters.

Spiritual Content- Scriptures are read, quoted, & mentioned; Talks about God & praying; ‘H’s are not capitalized when referring to God; Jo isn’t sure that God listens to her anymore & continues wondering and trying to pray throughout the story; Many mentions of pastors/priests, churches/chapels, services, sermons, & hymns; Many mentions of different religions (Protestant Christian, Lutheran, Baptist, Catholic, Buddhism, and Native American gods); Mentions of Scriptures & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of Good Friday, Easter, & Thanksgiving; Mentions of missionaries; Mentions of Bibles and those & events in the Bible; A few mentions of godsends & blessings;

*Note: Many mentions of Greek myths & gods/goddesses; Mentions of Martin Luther and his hatred for Jews; Mentions of the devil (making a deal & selling your soul); Mention of damnation, hell, & a hellhole; A few mentions of being (or not being) a Marxist; A couple mentions of godforsaken places; A mention of a Shinto shrine.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: an ‘idiot’, a ‘what the devil’, two ‘damning’s, two ‘dumb’s, two ‘heck’s, three ‘blasted’s, and five ‘stupid’s; Mentions of curses & racial slurs (said, not written); A bit of sarcasm; All about the war (World War II), deaths, prisoner-of-wars, missing-in-actions soldiers, propaganda, prejudices, spies, Nazis, treason, internment camps (semi-detailed); Mentions of murders & murderers; Mentions of bombs; Mentions of fights, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of the Great War & the Great Depression; Mentions of a fire & arson; Mentions of jails/prisons; Mentions of drinking, alcohol, & drunks; Mentions of smoking, cigarettes/cigars, & tobacco; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of those willing to taking their lives; A few mentions of thieves & stealing; A few mentions of graffiti; A few mentions of slaughterhouses & animals are destined for glue; A couple mentions of Joan of the Arc being on fire & a costume depicting that; A couple mentions of executions; A couple mentions of being held hostage & at knifepoint; A couple mentions of gunfire; A couple mentions of riots; A couple mentions of blackmail; A mention of a president assassination attempt; A mention of a film showing the Ku Klux Klan rescuing “a town from a mob of murderous, newly freed slaves”; A mention of death threats; A mention of a lynch mob; A mention of train robbers; A mention of horse droppings;

*Note: Many mentions of singers, songs, actors/actresses, movies, authors, & books; A mention of Al Capone; A mention of a car brand.

Sexual Content- A few mentions of kisses & kissing; A few mentions of affairs & adultery; A few mentions of flirting & winking; A few mentions of girls mooning over a guy & a guy “making eyes” at a girl; A few mentions of blushes; A couple mentions of a “mattress that had seen considerable use”; A mention of men boasting about women; A mention of couple in dark corners at a dance; A mention of a man mentioning the gentler sex; A mention of a saloon girl; A mention of jealousy; Very, very light love, falling in love, & the emotions (since this book is completely in letters (not letters sent from a couple) it is all very light in the romance regard);

*Note: A couple mentions of shirtless men (one asks Jo if she likes what she sees); A mention of an actress wearing nothing but a towel and a wig in a movie; A mention of a bathing suit model.

-Johanna Berglund, age 22

Told in the format of Letters

Set in 1944-1945

416 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

I don’t know where to begin with this novel. I was expecting a book featuring many languages and a heroine you spoke another language. As someone who enjoys learning new languages and seeing that represented in fiction, I was very curious about this one.

I think I would have to read this book a couple more times to fully grasp my thoughts on this book. There were many parts that felt related to the last year. (Some readers are checking the date of this review at this moment, I’m sure.)

I didn’t know this was a book of a collection of letters—in all honesty, I think I might have been a bit hesitate over that had I known—but it was a unique format for this book and the plot. Because of this style, the physical side to a romance that is typically shown was not there (a positive) and there wasn’t much dialogue (a negative, in my eyes). There were a few parts were the story slowed and I do wish the faith content had been stronger, but for a book set in World War II, it was pretty clean.

Now, I’m off to go research different bunny trails about different things mentioned in the plot.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!