{"product_id":"facing-the-enemy-isbn-9781662680250","title":"Facing the Enemy","description":"\u003cb\u003eWhat do you do when your best friend becomes the enemy? \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGrowing up in Newark, NJ, in the 1930s, Tommy Anspach and Benjy Puterman have always done everything together. It never mattered that Benjy was Jewish and Tommy was of German descent. But as Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party comes to power in Germany and war brews in Europe, everything changes. Tommy is sent to Camp Nordland, a Nazi youth camp for German Americans, where he quickly learns that Jews are the enemy. Heartbroken by the loss of his friend, Benjy forms a teen version of the Newark Minutemen, an anti-Nazi vigilante group, all the while hoping that Tommy will abandon his extremist beliefs. Will Benjy and Tommy be able to overcome their differences and be friends again?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBased on real-life events and groups like the Newark Minutemen and the pro-Nazi German American Bund, this daring novel-in-verse reveals the long history of American right-wing extremism, and its impact on the lives of two ordinary teens.\u003cb\u003e2024 Kansas NEA Reading Circle List\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"(An) illuminating verse novel...\"\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Publishers Weekly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The story of a friendship torn apart when Nazi ideology arrives on America’s shores... (e)ach boy struggles with different types of personal adversity, and the challenges of their relationship highlight an important, lesser-known chapter in U.S. history.\"—\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The novel’s action moves back and forth between Tommy’s and Benjy’s first-person accounts, doing a nice job of adding complexity to the plot...Good for independent reading and, especially, classroom use.\" —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBooklist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eFacing the Enemy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e offers a frightening glimpse into a little-known slice of America’s history.Two best friends—one Jewish and one of German heritage—pit themselves against each other asantisemitism rises alongside German nationalism in a corner of New Jersey in the years leadingup to World War II. Poetry is the perfect form for this well-researched, chilling read.”—\u003cb\u003eKip Wilson, award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eWhite Rose\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Barbara Krasner’s compelling poetry brings to life a time in US history that must neverbe forgotten. Benjy’s courage, conviction, and determination will inspire young readers to standup for what is right, even when it means risking everything. Tommy’s ability to look deepwithin himself, question what he’s been taught, and learn to think for himself is an importantlife lesson for us all. I hope this page-turner of a book garners the widest audience possible.”\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eLesléa Newman, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eGittel’s Journey: An Ellis Island Story\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eBarbara Krasner\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of many books across genres, including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and children’s literature. Her recent titles include \u003ci\u003e37 Days at Sea: Aboard the M.S. St. Louis, 1939, Civilian Casualties in War\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eEthel’s Song: Ethel Rosenberg’s Life in Poems\u003c\/i\u003e. Her book \u003ci\u003eGoldie Takes a Stand! Golda Meir’s First Crusade\u003c\/i\u003e was a recipient of the Sydney Taylor Honor Award. She holds a Ph.D. in Holocaust and genocide studies from Gratz College, teaches in the Holocaust and genocide studies program at the College of New Jersey, and serves as director of the Mercer County Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education Center. She also holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.\u003cb\u003eINTRODUCING BENJY PUTERMAN\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s late spring, almost summer, 1937. Just four months and I can officially say I’m a freshman at Weequahic High. Rumors of a Nazi camp for kids opening in Sussex County somewhere are littering Newark streets like candy wrappers. My pop’s a member of the Newark Minutemen, he and a bunch of other former prizefighters— they’ve been going around to meetings of these so-called Nazis in Newark, Irvington, and other parts of New Jersey and busting them up. The meetings and the people, I guess. Sometimes help comes from (shh!) gangsters like Longie Zwillman. But Longie’s one of us, and he’s been good to the Jews of Weequahic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePresident Roosevelt is gearing up to campaign for a second term. His New Deal has been successful, from what I can see from my perch. He’ll get us out of the Depression entirely. Hard to believe he took office just a couple of months after Herr Hitler (I’ve been taking German) took over Germany as Führer (leader) of the Third Reich (empire). He’s gunning for an empire to last a thousand years. He’s pals with Italy’s dictator, Benito Mussolini. I think they’re both nuts. At least Hitler and the Soviet Union’s dictator, Josef Stalin, are sworn enemies. The papers say Hitler insists there will not be war, that no country wants war, and no country can afford war. I don’t believe a word he says. After all, things are not going well for the Jews in Germany. A couple of years ago, Hitler put a decree in place to strip Jews of German citizenship. He dictated who Jews could marry and who they couldn’t. They’ve lost their jobs. They’re outcasts. Can’t somebody do something about Herr Hitler?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere in New Jersey and I guess elsewhere in the country is a new group who call themselves the German-American Bund. It’s a club, a league. Pop tells me they used to be called the Friends of New Germany until a congressman from New York, Sam Dickstein, shut them down. Rumor has it the Bund is behind this Nazi camp in New Jersey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI know exactly how this summer will go. My best pal, Tommy Anspach, and I will sip sodas at Sol’s while reading comics, play ball at Weequahic Park, and catch lightning bugs under the streetlights with mason jars. We’ll celebrate our summer birthday (we’ll both be fourteen on August 27!) in sleeping bags under the stars in my backyard. It’ll be great—our last hurrah before we buckle down to a year of classes and homework in the number one high school in the state!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEXPECTATIONS \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHOMAS ANSPACH\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eApril 1937\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFather no longer allows me to call him Vati. \u003cbr\u003eFather no longer allows me to read comic books. \u003cbr\u003eFather no longer allows me to be me.\u003cbr\u003eSometimes he calls me Rudi, the older brother\u003cbr\u003eI didn’t know, the one who died from scarlet fever \u003cbr\u003ein Germany when paper money was so worthless \u003cbr\u003eMother used it as fuel to keep everyone warm.\u003cbr\u003e But it didn’t help Rudi or Germany\u003cbr\u003eand Mother and Father came to America\u003cbr\u003eand had me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI will never be their beloved Rudi.\u003cbr\u003eI’m an American of German heritage. \u003cbr\u003eFather sends me to learn German\u003cbr\u003ein a special school on Saturdays.\u003cbr\u003eHe tells me I’m going to a special camp\u003cbr\u003eto embrace my German heritage\u003cbr\u003eas if I were growing up\u003cbr\u003ein Germany itself. I will go to this camp.\u003cbr\u003eI will prove to Father that Thomas\u003cbr\u003ecan be the son Rudi promised he would be.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFATHER TAKES ME TO A GERMAN-AMERICAN BUND MEETING\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThomas\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eApril 1937\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe head of the German-American league\u003cbr\u003e stands on a platform in a belted shirt, \u003cbr\u003emilitary-like. He speaks slowly, his eyes \u003cbr\u003epeering, searing, leering\u003cbr\u003einto mine. He says:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“To be and remain worthy of our Germanic blood, \u003cbr\u003eour German Fatherland, and ancestral German blood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat means he wants us Americans \u003cbr\u003eto remember we belong to Germany.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Our German brothers and sisters fight for their existence, their \u003cbr\u003ehonor\u003cbr\u003eto cultivate our German language, customs, and ideals from shared \u003cbr\u003eblood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat means we all have our German heritage \u003cbr\u003eIn common. We need to come together.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“To stand up and be proud of all this,\u003cbr\u003eto always remember in unity is strength, our blood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat means there’s strength if we bond together.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore I realize I’m doing it,\u003cbr\u003emy arm is raised in salute and my voice \u003cbr\u003ebooms, “Sieg Heil.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI Never Knew \u003cbr\u003eTHOMAS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI never knew so many German-Americans lived \u003cbr\u003eoutside Newark. The people in this hall\u003cbr\u003ehave come from Irvington, that’s right outside\u003cbr\u003e Newark. But Haledon is near Paterson\u003cbr\u003eand Paramus not far from there, Garfield too.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is the first time I hear, “Camp Nordland.”\u003cbr\u003eA new camp for kids like me with German parents \u003cbr\u003eout in the New Jersey countryside, away\u003cbr\u003efrom the city. A place to bridge the old\u003cbr\u003eand new, Germany with America.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs we stroll out of the meeting, Father \u003cbr\u003esays, “Ru—Thomas, we’re sending you \u003cbr\u003eto Camp Nordland.”\u003cbr\u003eAt least this time he only spoke\u003cbr\u003ethe first syllable of my dead \u003cbr\u003ebrother’s name.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRead All About It \u003cbr\u003eThomas\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFather thrusts his Beobachter newspaper, \u003cbr\u003eThe Observer,\u003cbr\u003ehis German-American\u003cbr\u003eBund newspaper, into my face. \u003cbr\u003e“See here, this man\u003cbr\u003ewill be your camp director.” \u003cbr\u003eAugust Klapprott.\u003cbr\u003eHe looks\u003cbr\u003ejust like Fritz Kuhn, leader \u003cbr\u003eof the Bund, holding\u003cbr\u003eon to his leather holster across \u003cbr\u003ehis chest, fingers anchored\u003cbr\u003eon his belt. Camp Nordland \u003cbr\u003eopens on July 18. Just one\u003cbr\u003eof many Bund camps across\u003cbr\u003ethe country to connect \u003cbr\u003eAmerican kids with our German \u003cbr\u003eheritage. I wonder if that means \u003cbr\u003ewe’ll get to drink the beer\u003cbr\u003ethat Father loves so much.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eI Want to Tell Benjy, But Father Stops Me \u003cbr\u003eThomas\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Where do you think you’re going?” \u003cbr\u003eFather asks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“To tell Benjy all about Camp Nordland.” \u003cbr\u003e(my hand is on the doorknob)\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“No, this you must not do.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Why not?\"\u003cbr\u003e(I open the door.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The Putermans are Jewish.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I know.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“You can’t be friends with \u003cbr\u003eBenjy anymore”\u003cbr\u003e(He stands and closes the door).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“We don’t concern ourselves with \u003cbr\u003eJewish people. You’ll find \u003cbr\u003enew friends, German friends,\u003cbr\u003eat Nordland. Boys like yourself.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“But, Benjy and I have been friends forever. We like to do the same things.”\u003cbr\u003e\"Not anymore.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eBecause \u003cbr\u003eThomas\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMay 1937\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause you give me no choice\u003cbr\u003eBecause I like the special attention\u003cbr\u003eBecause I want to know more about where you came from\u003cbr\u003e Father, I’ll go to Nordland.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause your eyes light up with pride\u003cbr\u003eBecause you write my name in shirts, shorts, and socks\u003cbr\u003eBecause I know you really want a cabin in the woods away from the city\u003cbr\u003eMother, I’ll go to Nordland\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBecause I’m now your only child\u003cbr\u003eBecause I’m all you have\u003cbr\u003eBecause I never want to disappoint you, \u003cbr\u003eDear parents, Camp Nordland, here I come.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMale Call \u003cbr\u003eThomas\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A letter for you,” Mother says. \u003cbr\u003e“It’s from your new section leader\u003cbr\u003e at Camp Nordland.” It’s addressed\u003cbr\u003e to Thomas Anspach, not Tommy.\u003cbr\u003eI open it. It’s completely in German.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I told you that you’ll have\u003cbr\u003e to speak German all the time \u003cbr\u003eat camp,” she says.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI roll my eyes. Slipped in\u003cbr\u003ewith the letter are the lyrics\u003cbr\u003eto the German national anthem:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDeutschland, Deutschland über alles,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGermany, Germany above all, \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eüber alles in der Welt,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eabove all else in the world,\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ewenn es stets zu Schutz and Trutze\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhen always for protection and defense, \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ebrüderlich zusammen hält,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebrothers stand together.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI am still singing the song to myself \u003cbr\u003eas I fall asleep.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLet Me at ’Em \u003cbr\u003eBenjy\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Let me at ’em,” Pop says\u003cbr\u003eat the dinner table. That’s what Mr. Nat Arno \u003cbr\u003esaid, Pop says, when they heard about\u003cbr\u003ea Nazi club meeting in Irvington. Pop\u003cbr\u003eis one of Mr. Arno’s Minutemen. Just\u003cbr\u003ethe sound of that makes Pop stand up\u003cbr\u003e straight, like he’s a colonist fighting\u003cbr\u003eagainst the British.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Mr. Arno says, “Let me at ’em,”\u003cbr\u003ehe means business, Pop says. Mr. Arno \u003cbr\u003estarted boxing at fourteen,\u003cbr\u003ehis first match and first win at fifteen. His pop\u003cbr\u003e didn’t want him fighting so Mr. Arno \u003cbr\u003ehitchhiked to Florida. Won a bunch\u003cbr\u003eof fights. Now, a bunch of years later,\u003cbr\u003ehe’s back in Newark.\u003cbr\u003eJeez, even Newark’s mayor, Meyer Ellenstein, \u003cbr\u003ewas a Jewish boxer, too.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo why the Minutemen? Why not the Boxers? \u003cbr\u003ePop’s proud of his fights. He won’t let\u003cbr\u003eMom touch the gold satin shorts\u003cbr\u003ehe wore in his last match. He gave up\u003cbr\u003eboxing when I was born. But\u003cbr\u003ehe hasn’t given up fighting—he just \u003cbr\u003edoesn’t use a ring anymore.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eI’m going to box someday, too, just\u003cbr\u003e like Benny Leonard, Newark’smost famous Jewish boxer.\u003cbr\u003eI check my meager muscles\u003cbr\u003ein the bathroom mirror. I have \u003cbr\u003ea long way to go for anyone\u003cbr\u003e to believe me when I say,\u003cbr\u003e “Let me at ’em.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat Tommy Won’t Be Doing \u003cbr\u003eBenjy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJuly 1, 1937\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I won’t be playing ball with you\u003cbr\u003e at Weequahic Park,” Tommy says.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I won’t be hanging out after dinner with you\u003cbr\u003e or having a Coke,” Tommy says.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I won’t be opening up the fire hydrants\u003cbr\u003e to cool us off,” Tommy says.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“My parents have signed me up for camp\u003cbr\u003ein the country. A lake, trees, fun,” Tommy says.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I’ll talk to my parents so I can come, too!” I say.\u003cbr\u003e “You can’t come with me,” Tommy says.\u003cbr\u003e“No Jews allowed.” He turns toward his house. \u003cbr\u003e“And I’m Thomas now.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTommy Doesn’t Need to Leave Newark \u003cbr\u003eBenjy\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf Tommy wants to escape the city,\u003cbr\u003ehe could go, like we always do,\u003cbr\u003eto Weequahic Park, throw a few balls around.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf Tommy wants to breathe fresh air\u003cbr\u003eand the scent of grass, there’s always my backyard,\u003cbr\u003e narrow but deep.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOr the grassy median that divides Goldsmith Avenue \u003cbr\u003ewhere we played hide-and-seek in the shrubs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe’ve got a few trees, too, lining the curb, \u003cbr\u003enext to the garbage cans.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt may not be Camp Nordland, \u003cbr\u003ebut it’s home and it’s ours.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A Novel in Verse","brand":"Calkins Creek","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305514291429,"sku":"NP9781662680250","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781662680250.jpg?v=1767726621","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/facing-the-enemy-isbn-9781662680250","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}