Jacob is seventeen and having typical nineteen year old issues. He feels awkward, worries about what he says and does...basically an insecure boy who is visiting Amsterdam at the request of his grandmother (who is English) so he can visit Geertrui, his grandmother's old friend. The story alternates between Jacob and and a nineteen year old Geertrui in Holland as the Allies are trying to liberate the country from the Germans.As jacob tries to figure out why exactly he has been asked to visit Geertrui, he tours Amsterdam with Geertrui's son and does some exploring with his sexuality...nothing graphic, mostly thoughts and jumbled feelings.
Family, truthfulness, love, euthenasia, are only a few of the things Jacob must navigate through as he learns about his past and why it is he who must learn geertrui's story. Aiden Chambers won the Hans Christian Andersen award in 2002 and won the Printz Award and the British Carnegie Medal for this book in 2003. I have to admit this one kind of sucked me in...Jacob's insecurity and self-depreciation at times were tedious but I loved Geertrui's character. Though the book kept switching between the 90's and the 40's, the book really flowed well and the pieces came together just fine at the end.
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