Daniel Half Human by David Chotjewitz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The ending of this book was like a punch! It surprised me, and it hurt.

Unfortunately, the rest of the story, though it's about Germany during the rise of Hitler, conveys almost no emotion. Daniel, the main character, is detached from his family & his heritage. Eventually, he becomes awake to the reality of his country's politics and the danger to his family (and the cowardice and fear of everyone around them), but he becomes detached from his best friend. The detachment is all that comes through in the reading.

I've been thinking about this for a day or so: despite winning awards, this book does a disservice. I wouldn't deliberately give it to someone who wanted to learn about the Holocaust. This story almost makes it seem like it was only an inconvenience.

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