{ "item_title" : "The War Outside", "item_author" : [" Monica Hesse "], "item_description" : "From the bestselling and award-winning author of Girl in the Blue Coat, comes an extraordinary novel of conviction, friendship, and betrayal, when two teenage girls meet in an American internment camp during WWII.It's 1944, and World War II is raging across Europe and the Pacific. The war seemed far away from Margot in Iowa and Haruko in Colorado--until they were uprooted to dusty Texas, all because of the places their parents once called home: Germany and Japan. Margot and Haruko meet at the high school in Crystal City, a family internment camp for those accused of colluding with the enemy. The teens discover that they are polar opposites in so many ways, except for one that seems to override all the others: the camp is changing them, day by day and piece by piece. Haruko finds herself consumed by fear for her soldier brother and distrust of her father, who she knows is keeping something from her. And Margot is doing everything she can to keep her family whole as her mother's health deteriorates and her rational, patriotic father becomes a man who distrusts America and fraternizes with Nazis. With everything around them falling apart, Haruko and Margot find solace in their growing, secret friendship. But in a prison the government has deemed full of spies, can they trust anyone--even each other?Don't miss other historical masterpieces from Monica Hesse:The Girl in the Blue CoatThey Went LeftThe Brightwood Code", "item_img_path" : "https://covers4.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/31/631/669/0316316695_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "34.99", "online_price" : "34.99", "our_price" : "34.99", "club_price" : "34.99", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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The War Outside

Monica Hesse’s The War Outside pierces the heart with its exceptional story of family, friends and country. Two young women meet in a World War II internment camp in Texas for “enemy aliens”—those suspected of colluding with the Axis—but because Margot is German-American and Haruko is Japanese-American, the two teens cannot openly be friends.

When a dust storm forces the girls to shelter together, they overcome the mores of the camp and forge a tenuous bond. Inexorably drawn to each other, they continue to meet in secret. Alienated from all that is familiar, Haruko slowly reveals her fears for her brother’s safety as he serves in the Japanese-American fighting unit. Margot feels empathy for Haruko, but she doesn’t share her own secrets because she thinks they are too awful and that revealing them would drive Haruko away.

The War Outside highlights a blight on our country’s past—the forced imprisonment of American citizens without a trial—and Hesse’s story packs a gut-wrenching wallop as a result.

Author of the multiple award-winning novel Girl in the Blue Coat, Hesse offers a subtle promise in her new novel—to remember and never repeat this history. Riveting and meticulously researched, this story reverberates with authentic voices as it explores adolescent growth under dreadful circumstances.

 

This article was originally published in the October 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.