Summer Reading, Had Me a Blast: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

                I had a lovely Fourth of July Weekend at my grandparent's lake house in Nisswa, Minnesota. I spent most of my days sitting on the dock, enjoying the breeze off the water. During this relaxation, I read Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein in its entirety.

                American transport pilot and novice poet, Rose Justice, faces her worst nightmare when she is capture by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, an all-women concentration camp. She still manages to find hope, however, after meeting a group of women who are soldiers in their own right. These survivors include a French novelist turned barrack mother, a Polish girl scout used for Nazi medical experiments, and a Soviet female fighter pilot. Together, they stand up to their oppressors and fight to survive long enough to tell the world what has been done to them.

                I had such high hopes for this book after reading Wein's Code Name Verity, but Rose Under Fire started out so slow that I was worried I would be disappointed. Rose isn't half the narrator Verity is, and the story doesn't launch right into the action. The real stars of the novel are Ravensbrück's supporting cast, and Wein takes over a hundred pages to get there. Still, the beginning of the novel is worthwhile for finding out the fate of some of Verity's characters (Hint: M + J = <3).

                Once the novel gets on its feet, it's off and running. Wein wraps the reader up in the characters and the love they share for each other. The extreme situations of the camp lead to extreme acts of bravery by extraordinary women. Once again, Wein proves that she can write interest, complex women in parts of World War II's lesser known history.

                The ending is slow once again, but Wein leaves the reader on a note of hope. Overall, the book holds true to Wein's principal, to explore the bravery of humanity at war as well as the evil and, like the women at Ravensbrück, TELL THE WORLD.

If you liked Code Name Verity, you will like Rose Under Fire. If you haven't read Verity, read that first because Rose contains spoilers.

Next Up: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater