The Dog in the Wood by Monika Schroder

The Dog in the Wood by Monika Schroder is set in Germany just after Russia invaded at the end of World War II. Ten year old Fritz lives with his grandparents, mother, sister on his grandparents' farm. They've lived there ever since Fritz's father was killed in the war. Fritz's grandfather is a NAZI sympathizer and is convinced that he and Fritz will need to fight for the farm when the Russian soldiers arrive. Fritz is terrified - he wants to do what his grandfather tells him to do, but he isn't sure he is courageous enough to fight. He takes solace in carving his little wooden dog in the barn, with Lech, the Polish hired hand. But, Fritz doesn't have to fight alongside his grandfather - when news comes that the Russian soldiers have arrived, Fritz's grandparents commit suicide. Then, the townspeople and the soldiers force Fritz and his family (including Lech) to give up their farm! They have to travel with just a small cart, leaving most of their possessions and livestock behind, to their other grandmother's house in the south. When they arrive, things go from bad to worse... the Russian soldiers come to arrest Fritz's mother on weapons charges - even though she has no weapons! Trying to defend her, Lech is also arrested. Now it is up to Fritz to save them... can he do it in time?

This was a great book! I've never read a book about WWII from the perspective of a German civilian. It was a very interesting look at what happened to regular people that got caught up in the war while just trying to survive. The author's note at the end was also quite interesting. Much of this story was based on events from her own father's childhood!