Tug Of War [Paperback]

In Tug of War, the Petersons and the Jansons are escaping their home country, Latvia, because of World War II. The Russians were coming to take over Latvia and all the countries surrounding it, so that forced almost all the citizens in these countries to leave. The crowds are massive and people are being left behind. Who ever thought that one of the Petersons, Hugo, would get separated from his family? I really enjoyed this book. It taught me more about WWII, but it wasn't like reading a History textbook. The author took a common situation for a family in WWII and wrote about that family and their life during the war, but at the same time she was educating her readers about what happened in the war.

Astra and Hugo Peterson are twins. When they leave Latvia to go to Leipzig, Germany to stay at an old friend's house and Hugo's godfather, Otto Zimmerman, they are fourteen, but they don't know that they'll be separated and won't see each other until they are eighteen, all because of the crowds of people trying to leave Latvia before the Russians come. Astra is devastated that her and Hugo got separated. She feels like the other half of her is missing.

While Astra is on her way to Leipzig and worrying about Hugo and if they will ever meet up again, Hugo is being taken care of. The Schneider's found Hugo beside the railroad tracks with a very deep cut from the middle of his forehead all the way to the bottom of his face. His glasses were broken so he couldn't see a thing. When the Schneider's took Hugo into their home, Hugo knew he would be safe there until he found his family. Little did Hugo know, he was going to find his future wife in the Schneider's household. Bettina Schneider was an only child and only a few months older than Hugo. They were happy with each others present and Hugo felt a whole lot better whenever Bettina would encourage him that he can still live his life without his family. After four years of Hugo living with the Schneider's, Hugo finally asks Bettina to marry him. Of course, Bettina agrees.

Astra never knew what ever happened to Hugo at the train station in those crowds. She never found out until she found Hugo four years later in a camp full of people waiting to leave Germany for America and Canada. When Hugo and Bettina were taking a walk along the side of the rode, an drove by, that the Petersons and Jansons were in, but Hugo, Bettina, nor the two families inside the van knew it was one another. The one thing that caught Hugo's attention was that the van had a Latvian flag on the window. He was pleased to learn that people from his home country were still around in Germany. Hugo told Bettina that he would catch up with her later and he followed the van to the camp. When he got to the camp, he looked around and then he heard an eager voice call his name. After a couple of yells for him, Hugo turned around and saw that it was Astra. Astra took Hugo back to their family and everyone was pleased. Hugo came home to the Schneider's late that night and explained what happened. The Schneider's were happy, but Bettina was also sad. Hugo had to make decision of staying in Germany with the Schneider's or going to Canada to start a better life with his family. In the end, Hugo decides to go to Canada and then come back for Bettina after a year of living in Canada.

I really enjoyed this book. It had a romantic twist to it, but it told the life story of people who had to live during World War II. I would recommend this book to teenagers who are curious about what happened to everyday people in World War II.

~E. Snowden

It was Coo

› Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews  5.0 out of 5 stars