The girl's father left years ago and her mother is an alcoholic. The old lady reminds Lexi of her late grandmother, the last loving relative in her life. She is invited into Ursula's home for shelter when the woman finds her hiding on her porch. As the novel begins, Lexi Jordan, 13, is running away from the police after desecrating a cemetery.
Through flashbacks, readers learn that the elderly woman, Ursula, was one of Hitler's children and that she tormented her Jewish peers. Grade 7-9-A well-written story about the relationship between a young skinhead and an old lady. Ages 8-13.Ĭopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. Kids may enjoy the drama, but Williams's heavy-handed approach is more sensationalist than probing. 'Don't ever interfere again!' he stormed at her"). With his face twisted in fury, he looked like he wanted to stomp on her.
The characters and action are drawn with large, movie-of-the-week-style strokes (e.g., when Lexi tries to run interference for one of her skinhead friend's victims, he knocks Lexi down instead: "An eerie wail of pain filled the room. Zeidler's stories about World War II and seeing her own younger sister become a member of the "hate" group, Lexi comes to recognize how she has mistaken lies for truth. Zeidler is reminded of her own childhood in Germany during Hitler's reign. Seeing Lexi's tattoo of a swastika ("I call it my spider," Lexi explained, even though the woman hadn't asked. Zeidler (mistaking red spray paint for blood) invites the frightened girl into her house. Lexi is being chased by the police when Mrs. Zeidler first meet after Lexi vandalizes a local synagogue. Williams (Behind the Bedroom Wall) returns to the subject of Nazism and its effect on youths, this time setting her story in modern-day America, juxtaposing the thoughts of a teenage "skinhead" against the memories of a former member of the Hitler Youth.
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