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A review by marilynw
Things We Didn't Say by Amy Lynn Green
4.0
Things We Didn't Say by Amy Lynn Green
Outspoken, goes her own way, headstrong, Johanna Berglund, is a linguistics student at the University of Minnesota, in I944, when she is asked to come back to her hometown to act as a translator at a camp for German POWs. When Johanna declines the offer several times, her scholarship is revoked, forcing her to go home and take the job. Johanna had left her home, with plans to rarely return, due to sad memories and a falling out with her best friends, several years earlier. Now Johanna is a pharah in her hometown, since most citizens are angry to have German POWs there, despite the fact that the POWs are going to help them to plant, raise, and harvest their crops.
It doesn't help things when it becomes known that Johanna corresponds regularly with Japanese American, Peter Ito, a language instructor at a school for military intelligence officers. Johanna's attempt to make life better for the German POWs and her friendship with Peter convinces the most critical townsfolk to turn on Johanna and believe the worst of her. And Johanna often makes things worse with her abrasive but honest letters to the editor of the newspaper and other residents of the town.
The entire story is told through letters, notes, and documents and we know from the beginning that Johanna has been accused of treason. I enjoyed how the story was told and especially enjoyed the letters between Johanna and Peter. Peter, whose family is in an American concentration camp because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They have done nothing wrong except to be Japanese, yet Peter has such a forgiving, compassionate, and positive outlook on life and he is the best thing that could ever happen to Johanna. She cherishes his friendship, knows he is her best friend, but it isn't until something happens to Peter that she realizes just how much she has always held back her most real, deepest feelings, thinking she would lose something of herself if she gave any more of herself to anyone.
This is such a touching story and the tension builds as we read the letters, notes, and documents. Johanna is both naive and cynical, not realizing how she is being used, not suspecting what is going on right in front of her. The story shows us the heartache of those who have lost family to the war, have loved ones as POWs, and live separated from their homes and their families, with no end in sight.
Published November 3rd 2020
Thank you to Bethany House/Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley for this ARC.
Outspoken, goes her own way, headstrong, Johanna Berglund, is a linguistics student at the University of Minnesota, in I944, when she is asked to come back to her hometown to act as a translator at a camp for German POWs. When Johanna declines the offer several times, her scholarship is revoked, forcing her to go home and take the job. Johanna had left her home, with plans to rarely return, due to sad memories and a falling out with her best friends, several years earlier. Now Johanna is a pharah in her hometown, since most citizens are angry to have German POWs there, despite the fact that the POWs are going to help them to plant, raise, and harvest their crops.
It doesn't help things when it becomes known that Johanna corresponds regularly with Japanese American, Peter Ito, a language instructor at a school for military intelligence officers. Johanna's attempt to make life better for the German POWs and her friendship with Peter convinces the most critical townsfolk to turn on Johanna and believe the worst of her. And Johanna often makes things worse with her abrasive but honest letters to the editor of the newspaper and other residents of the town.
The entire story is told through letters, notes, and documents and we know from the beginning that Johanna has been accused of treason. I enjoyed how the story was told and especially enjoyed the letters between Johanna and Peter. Peter, whose family is in an American concentration camp because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. They have done nothing wrong except to be Japanese, yet Peter has such a forgiving, compassionate, and positive outlook on life and he is the best thing that could ever happen to Johanna. She cherishes his friendship, knows he is her best friend, but it isn't until something happens to Peter that she realizes just how much she has always held back her most real, deepest feelings, thinking she would lose something of herself if she gave any more of herself to anyone.
This is such a touching story and the tension builds as we read the letters, notes, and documents. Johanna is both naive and cynical, not realizing how she is being used, not suspecting what is going on right in front of her. The story shows us the heartache of those who have lost family to the war, have loved ones as POWs, and live separated from their homes and their families, with no end in sight.
Published November 3rd 2020
Thank you to Bethany House/Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley for this ARC.