November 4

‘The Wrong Boy’ by Suzy Zail

wrong boy“Being kissed by Karl Jager was devastating. And beautiful. War makes you do crazy things.”

The Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail was set in 1944 in a concentration camp in Poland. The main character, Hanna Mendel, is a 16 year old pianist  sent to concentration camp and is forced to leave everything she loves behind, including her piano and home. She is a naïve girl and doesn’t quite understand what is going on at the camp, but she cannot pass up an opportunity of becoming the commander’s pianist. When she wins the auditions she is over the moon. She uses her privileges to help her sister Erica stay alive but at times it just wasn’t enough. When Hanna realizes that she has feelings for the Commander’s son Karl, she is left in awe as he reciprocates his feelings but they are star-crossed lovers destined not to be together.


I enjoyed this book as the descriptive language makes the scenes easily play out in my head. Suzy related the book to modern issues of young people with love and heartbreak, as they are not able to be together. This book was a tearjerker at times and I found myself in awe in the end.

 

I’d recommend this story to girls 12-16 who enjoy a romance and drama story, I found myself really stuck into this book after reading the first few chapters.

 

I give The Wrong Boy by Suzy Zail 4 out of 5 stars as the storyline was good but the ending was a little weak.

 

Gemma T, Year 9

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Meet Hannah Mendel. a 15 year old Jewish pianist. Little did she know in just eight days she would be swept off across the country and be playing for the Camp Commander and his son Karl. If you are interested in thrilling World War II and young love books, this is the book for you!

 

This story starts in Hungary, in the street where Hanna, her mother, father and sister all live now turned into a ghetto. The action then moves to a camp in Poland – Auschwitz.

The main character is Hanna. The book follows her life throughout a terrible three months. The secondary characters are Hanna’s family, the Camp Commander Captain Jager and his son Karl.

 

I believe that I enjoyed the book so much because it is unpredictable and quite a different book to what I would read. It is a great book, however I wish to know more about what happens after the ending.

 

I recommend this book to teens and young adults between the ages of 13-20 who are interested in World War II, music and young love/romance. This novel is an easy and great book to read.

 

Kira N. Year 9

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‘Being kissed by Karl Jagger was devastating. And beautiful. War makes you do dangerous things.’

 

Fifteen-year-old Hanna Mendel planned on being a concert pianist like her idol Clara Wieck. She planned on her life being normal. But no life for a Jewish girl in World War II can be normal. Leaving behind her life, her piano, her school and her dreams, Hanna is forced to face the reality of World War II. When she spends her sixteenth birthday in Auschwitz, her street is turned into a ghetto, she’s thrown into wooden barracks with two hundred other prisoners and forced into cattle trucks, where she is taken away.

 

Now she is just like any other Jew, forced into camps, shaven and given a number. Hanna is sure she’slost everything.

That’s until she meets Karl Jagger, the commandant’s son and fell in love with the wrong boy.

 

I found this book fascinating and an adorable read, perfect for teenage girls who enjoy the thrill of World War II novels and sweet romance stories. The World War II theme gave the novel, the worn boy, as sense of fear for the characters and fascination towards the reality of their situation. In the romance side of the story, it dealt with forbidden love and left readers wondering what would happen to the characters next. It was all of this that made me fall in love with the novel, therefore I rate ‘The Wrong Boy’ 4 stars out of 5.

 

Kyoko Y, Year 9.

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‘Being kissed by Karl Jager was devastating and beautiful. War makes you do dangerous things.’

      For Hanna Mendel, life was hard, being thrown into a Jewish prison and forced to do things that she doesn’t want to do. In the end, maybe being put here was a good thing as she would find true love but did it turn out the way she imagined?

      The book ‘The Wrong Boy’ is about a young girl, Hanna Mendel. Hanna is a very talented player of the piano. Hanna and her family live in a place called ‘The Ghetto’ along with many other Jews. Towards the end of World War ll the Jews in The Ghetto were forced to leave the Ghetto and go to one of the most notorious 

German concentration camps in history, Auschwitz. When they got there all the Jews are put through a selection process. Hanna lies about her age so that she can stay with her mother and sister but her father is taken away along with all the other men. Hanna’s mother quickly becomes very mentally ill due to the separation from her husband and being in the camp. She is later taken away and killed. Hanna and her sister are now left to fend for themselves. Erika usually refuses the terrible food that they get and slowly starts to starve to death.

       Now the only one left is Hanna, a 15 year old girl, but when an audtion to play piano for the commander pops up, she goes for it as she doesn’t really have anything left to lose. The commander sees the talent that Hanna has and chooses her for the role. Everyday Hanna is escorted by guards to the commanders house, and must stand outside waiting all day incase he wishes to have some music played for him.  

       Also living in the house is the commander’s son, Karl. Karl is a very good looking young man, about the same age as Hanna but he seems to be blind to what is going on outside his house and in his country. At first Hanna hates Karl just because of who his father is, but the more she goes to the house the more she realizes that Karl is different and not who she first thought he was. She soon falls in love with Karl but is he the wrong boy?

       I liked the story so much because it kept me curious and I found myself wanting to read more. The storyline was very interesting and intriguing. I would recommend this book to teens around 15 to 20 as the storyline at times requires maturity to understand what is being told. People who like love stories would also really like this book.

      Jack B-M, year 9.

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Posted November 4, 2013 by marjk in category Love stories, Student Reviews

About the Author

Teacher-librarian at Aquinas College, Southport, Gold Coast, Australia

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