As WW II breaks out, a father finds himself in the U.S. while his wife and sons are home in occupied Norway. Based on the son’s true-life journals from 1935-1945, this is the story of a family separated by war and uncertainty.
My thoughts:
Occupied is told through one continuous flashback which shows 70 year old Trygve taking his son to the place in Norway that means so much to him and telling his story. It is formatted as a journal might be; each chapter has as its title, the date. This is very helpful and one gets the feeling of reading the actual journal. That feeling is so authentic that in a few instances I thought the narrative was rather long and drawn out, just as a young boy might have written in. This only happened a couple of times and certainly did not detract from the overall reading experience.
As Occupied begins we meet the young brothers, Trygve and Thoralf, and other members of their immediate family in Norway. The boys are portrayed in such a way that the reader feels they know them, or at least someone like them. They're cute, rambunctious, and totally believable. I can just picture those boys questioning their relative about the journey to the bus station. "This isn't the road to the bus station." They are then told that they will be going by small boat across the fjord to reach the bus station. I would have loved that experience.
We watch the boys grow from youngsters unaware of the world falling apart around them to young men who want to help protect their world. From small childlike activities that help the war effort to clandestine activities of teenagers, the boys are caught up in the war.
Many countries in Europe have their WWII stories overshadowed by larger countries, especially in marketplace literature. This story introduces us not only to two special boys, but to the country of Norway and its people as they traverse the dangerous landscape of WWII. It was a welcome adventure into a less traveled land.
I don't think the book was written as a middle school level book, but I think it should be considered at that level as well as for adults. Often middle school boys cannot find historical fiction books with protagonists they can relate to. Here is one that middle school history and literature teachers should consider for their male readers. With some format editing of the longer paragraphs and the margins in the print version (middle schoolers do still like white spaces when reading), I think this could be an excellent middle school historical fiction and the genre needs more of those.
Occupied will be published April 9, 2019. You may pre-order your copy through various book vendors.
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