Summary of Summer of my German Soldier :: essays research papers

In the town of Jenkinsville, Arkansas, twelve-year-old Patty Bergen witnesses Nazis being taken to a prison camp. When she runs off to her family’s store, her father does not seem enthused. Patty’s parents do not treat her the way she wishes to be treated. Still, she tries to show her parents love. One day at the department store, a group of Nazis come in to buy straw hats to protect them from the sun as they work in fields. Only one, Frederick Anton Reiker, speaks English. He and Patty have a nice conversation. He wishes to be called Anton. Before he leaves, he asks for a fake diamond pin. Patty is confused, but she sells it to him anyway. Patty’s father has forbidden her from hanging out with Freddy Dowd. One day when her father is not home, he sits next to her on the sidewalk. They play a game, Hit the Hubcap, where a person must throw a stone at a passing car’s hubcap. The window of the first car is accidentally broken. Patty’s father finds her and beats her. One night Patty sees Anton running to the station. She runs after him and he agrees to hide above her garage, a secret hiding place. When she brings him food, they get to know each other. Patty leans that Anton used the gaudy pin to escape from prison. He told a guard with financial problems that the pin was worth five thousand dollars. The guard took the pin and Anton was free. The F.B.I. was bothered with Anton’s escape. At the department store, they questioned Patty. A reporter, Charlene Madlee, takes Patty along as she interviews the prison camp. After going home and bringing food to Anton, Patty stays outside. Freddy Dowd comes at the wrong time, and Patty’s father chases after her. As she is being beat, she sees Anton running to her father. Patty yells at him to go away, and he backs into the garage. Ruth, the housekeeper, sees him and the next day, she questions who it is. Patty quickly explains that he is the escaped soldier but doesn’t act like a Nazi. Ruth promises that she will not tell. She has Patty and Anton eat. She soon joins them, and they have a long conversation. It is quickly stopped when they hear a car. Anton rushes to hide under Patty’s bed. It was only a neighbor with a question.