I’m pretty sure I skimmed read half of this book ( )

What a dreary -what if Hitler won- story of a dyslexic youth whose parents and only friend have been disappeared and whose only comforts are his grandfather and his imaginings. Tales of the horrors of repression really only interest me 1) the the oppression was real and not speculative or 2) are written by Ursula Le Guin or an author of similar quality, if any.This is the second book in a row I've read with an odd eyed main character, one brown one blue. Weird. ( )

This was an ultra fast read. It's a rather odd book. I found myself confused in the beginning because it jumps around so much with few connections pulling it together. It does finally pull itself together and become more storylike about 1/3 of the way in. Once you begin to understand it you realize that it is actually a melding of the holocaust with the moon landing conspiracy theory retold in a completely unconventional way. There is so much going on in this book in terms of portraying different aspects of human character and relationships, but most of it parallels the holocaust. On one hand you have the Nazis who are portrayed by the murderous teacher and the "pure" families. On the other hand you have the Jews and sympathizers represented by Standish, his Gramps, and his friend Hector. I enjoyed being challenged in my thinking as I read the book and I think the different interpretations would make this a great book club choice. However I'm not sure this book would be well received by the typical teenager.

One other note. The dyslexia aspect of this book is strongly emphasized in the book blurb however I felt that this point actually had minimal mention in the story. I would not read the book if I were hoping to learn anything about dyslexia. ( )

I did not finish it. Not my sort of book.
( )

a great dystopian novel based in the past in they point of view of a teenager. written very well and easy to reader, however violent. ( )