REVIEW OF WE ARE WOLVES

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nannestad, Katrina. WE ARE WOLVES. New York City, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781665904223.


B. PLOT SUMMARY
Three generations of the Wolf family happily live together in East Prussia (a part of Germany) during the time that Adolph Hitler was Chancellor of Germany. There are the grandfather (Opa), grandmother (Oma), father (Herr Wolf), mother (Frau Wolf), and three children (daughter Liesl, son Otto, and baby daughter Mia.) In the early stages of the war, things were going well for the family. Unfortunately, as the war took a bad turn for Germany, many normally unsuitable candidates for the German army were drafted, including Herr Wolf. Upon his departure things continue to worsen for the family until the point that they are forced to evacuate as the Russian army advances into their part of Germany. They join many other German families fleeing, along with the German army in retreat, as the Russian army continues its advance into Germany. At one point in their flight, the grandfather and grandmother can no longer continue, and must be left behind. Liesl, her siblings, and her mother finally reach their goal, the coast where German ships are moored to take German refugees away from the invading Russians. Tragically, as they are trying to cross a lagoon to escape, the Russian army shoots into the lagoon and forces them away from the boats. Even worse, during the bombing they become separated from their mother and don’t know what happened to her. They fear she that she may have been killed. Eventually, Liesl and her siblings are taken in by a group of Russian soldiers. They travel together to a Russian army encampment. At first, life gets better for the three children; but, eventually, it appears that the Captain of the Russian army is going to take Mia home as a gift for his wife. The three children make their escape into a nearby forest. They spend the next number of days hiding from the Russians. They run out of the food they had taken with them and are forced to eat what little they can find in the forest: a frog, grass, and slugs. They take to raiding nearby homes for any food and scraps they can find. They meet other children living in the forest. Many of the children are other Germans, orphaned by the war; but some of the children are Russian who were already orphaned in Russia, and followed the Russian army into Prussia in hopes of finding better living conditions. Liesl, Otto, and Mia become friends with a Russian boy named Karl. Together they live in an abandoned hut in the forest, and every day they forage for food. After awhile they meet another girl and two other boys. Together they set out for Lithuania, where they hope to live a better life. Liesl, Otto, and Mia become separated from the other three children. Finally, Liesl, Otto, and Mia make it to Lithuania where, at first, it seems like their fortunes have changed for the better, until the morning Liesl and Otto wake up covered by snow, and Mia won’t wake up at all. Terrified that Mia is dying, the two children find help in the form of an old Lithuanian couple who take them in and nurse Mia back to health. The Lithuanian man and wife adopt the German children as their own. At the end of the story, the children are reunited with their mother. She finds them at their new home in Lithuania. “Everyone deserves a happily-ever-after. Even German children. Even wild children.”

 

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
This is well-written novel about World War II told from the point of view of a young German girl fleeing from the Russian army’s advance into her country. The characterization is well-balanced and not stereotyped. While we do see some Russian soldiers being cruel and mean, we also are shown other Russian soldiers displaying acts of normal human beings. One of them even shows kindness to Liesl as he teaches her how to milk a cow so they can have milk to drink. While most of the interactions between the Germans and the Russians throughout the book are hostile, there are a few instances where it can be seen that the two cultures share commonalities, and if there weren’t war between them, they might have developed a more positive relationship. In the book, much of Liesl’s reflection upon her feelings about the Russians is that some of them are not so bad. She begins to see that there is a great range of good and bad in all people. She even begins to consider the possibility that German soldiers might be capable of committing the same atrocities that the Russian soldiers do. She even grows to realize that many of the Russian soldiers are conscripts being forced to fight the German soldiers, just like her father was conscripted against his will into the German army to fight the Russian soldiers. After being in the Russian army encampment, Liesl realizes that she is starting to like the soldiers, for whom she had previously only felt hatred. The setting of the story starts in a city in East Prussia. From there it moves to the countryside as the family makes their way away from the advancing Russian army. The locations in the story are actual places in Prussia and Germany. The story is replete with cultural details. Food is described in detail, providing insights into the traditional foods of Germany, East Prussia, and Lithuania. The Christmas dinner in Lithuania is an excellent example of specific cultural differences in food traditional to Lithuania compared to that of food served in Germany. The lifestyle described in the story that the children lived in the forest was exactly the lifestyle that countless children endured in Prussia after World War II. The book details it with frightening historical accuracy. The poverty of East Prussia after the war is staggering. Everywhere people are starving. The three children hear that there is more food to be had in neighboring Lithuania and make their way there. The end of the story finds them being given shelter by a Lithuanian man and wife. The end of the story packs an emotional punch. We are led to fear the worst, that Mia is going to die, but the Lithuanian wife nurses her back to health. After Mia’s survival has been ensured (for the moment) other details must be taken care of. The Lithuanian couple must do everything that they can to help the children avoid being identified as Germans by the Russians in charge of Lithuania at the time. They burn the photos that Liesl has carried with her throughout their refugee ordeal because they know the Russians will “’see that you are German,’ says Magdalena. ‘The house, the clothes, the faces—they all prove who you really are.’” The children are given Lithuanian names to help them hide their true identities in case they are caught by Russian soldiers. The Lithuanian wife removes the German labels from the inside of the children’s coats. Finally, the children are taught the Lithuanian language to help them take on their new Lithuanian identities. That Christmas, when Otto wishes for a Christmas tree, he is taught that he must not wish for that because it is a German tradition. Lithuanians have spruce branches instead. To protect themselves from possible interrogation by the Russian soldiers, Liesl and her siblings become more and more Lithuanian, and lose more and more of their German identity. What they must do to survive is a tragedy, but the tragedy turns to happiness in the end, as the children are reunited with their mother.    


D. AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS
USBBY Outstanding International Book (2023)

Kirkus: *Starred Review* “A trio of German siblings must fend for themselves in order to survive during the final months of World War II. As the war rages on, Liesl, Otto, and Mia live in East Prussia with their family. It’s October 1944, and Papa has finally been called to serve in Hitler’s army. Not long after, the Russian army breaks through German lines, spurring the family to abandon their village and seek safety in the midst of a terrible blizzard. The children become separated from their mother, and 11-year-old Liesl must honor the promise she made to Mama to take care of 7-year-old Otto and toddler Mia. The children are quickly found by some Red Army soldiers and taken to their temporary quarters, where a kindly German-speaking Russian means to protect them, but when the arrangement becomes too dangerous, they are forced once more to flee. The siblings attempt to survive on their own in the forest along with other orphaned German children known as the Wolfskinder, or wolf children. The children’s physical and emotional journeys, inspired by real events, are poignantly depicted as they struggle against the elements, hunger, and foes and try to understand the nonsensical nature of war and the unimaginable things it forces people to do to survive.”

School Library Journal: “Liesl, her brother Otto, and sister Mia are "Wolfskinder," German children orphaned or separated from their families in East Prussia at the end of World War II. Just 11 years old, Liesl's fierce devotion to her younger siblings helps keep them-and their dream of being reunited with family-alive in a harsh and dangerous landscape. In their struggle to survive, the children find unexpected kindness, even friendship, from enemy Russian troops. But the soldiers can provide only temporary shelter from war's senseless destruction and cruelty; the children are soon on their own again, living as forest scavengers. The plot's relaxed pace is bolstered by vivid settings and nuanced, memorable characters. Liesl realistically transitions from child to adult, observing that, "We are all the same deep down. German. Russian. Children. Soldiers." VERDICT A compelling mix of historical fiction, survival, and adventure, this title shines light on a little-known episode from history. Recommended for all middle grade collections.”

Publishers Weekly: “In late 1944 East Prussia, 11-year-old Liesl Wolf and her seven-year-old brother, Otto, never doubt that it is “an exciting time to be German,” even when their father is called to fight for “our beloved leader.” When Papa is pronounced missing, though, and their family, along with many others, is commanded to flee the Red Army in a blizzard, confusion floods the children’s patriotism. After tragedy leaves Liesl in charge of irrepressible Otto and joyful toddler Mia, their sister, the children struggle to survive, stealing from abandoned homes, foraging, and even living with Russian soldiers. Fierce and steadfast in her care for her siblings, and determined to hold to a promise to keep them safe and together, Liesl insists they still “need to be children”: playing games, singing songs, and telling jokes even amid their desperation. As Liesl undergoes thoughtful questioning and maturation in her thinking about the war’s players, her realistic yet optimistic voice grounds the book in a spirit of integrity, generosity, and love—a sensibility that gently permeates the siblings’ bonds with one another and with others. Heiduczek’s occasional b&w art enhances the story’s dark and tender components.”


E. CONNECTIONS
This story is about what the experience of World War II was like for children.

Here are some other novels about how children experienced World War II:

Nannestad, Katrina. WAITING FOR THE STORKS. ISBN 978-0733342271

Lowry, Lois. NUMBER THE STARS. ISBN 978-0395510605

Kerr, Judith. WHEN HITLER STOLE PINK RABBIT. ISBN 978-0142414088

Zusak, Markus. THE BOOK THIEF. ISBN 978-0385611466 

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