Hitler’s
Daughter is a
gripping story for preteens about human evil and family love. It asks the very
challenging question: what would you do when someone you love does something
really bad?

The story
of Hitler’s Daughter by Jackie
French is set in contemporary Australia.
"The Game" began as a diversion for Mark, Anna, and Ben, and to ease
"Little Tracey" anxieties about starting school. Anna created stories
to amuse the foursome and continued them in a serial manner day-by-day. The
early stories involved magical fish and fairies but with the advent of the
rainy season, Anna’s stories took on a more serious, almost sinister tone. Her
newest story is about Heidi, the secret daughter of Adolph Hitler. Heidi is a
young girl living in her father’s country villa with Fraulein Gelber, her governess, and a housekeeper and a cook. "Duffi" (her name for her father) visits only
sporadically and then only briefly bring her a doll as a gift. Heidi knows that
her father is an important and busy man, but she suspects that part of her
father’s distance has more to do with the birthmark that covers half her face
and her limp. She is aware of his desire to create a "master race" of
perfect and beautiful German people like her dolls, but she knows that she is
far from beautiful and physically perfect. When Heidi and Fraulein Gelber are move to a new house further into the
countryside, Frau Leib is engaged as their new
housekeeper/cook. With the move, Fraulein Gelber grows
distant and focuses more on the letters she received from home then on Heidi
who begins to spend more of her time with Frau Leib.
Frau Leib is uncomfortable with silence and chatters
continually about Hitler, his War, and his plans to "purify" the master
race. Heidi has heard very little about most of this and begins to suspect that
either Frau Leib has it all wrong or her father is
really a very "bad man." Anna’s story about Heidi and her father
races on to its heart stopping climax in a Berlin
bunker.

As Anna’s story about Heidi and
Hitler unfolds it begins to raise questions for Mark, the most intellectual of
the four children. Mark becomes obsessed with learning the truth about the real
Hitler, and as he does, he explores the issue of human evil. He begins to
confront the issues of love and familial loyalty versus evil actions. How can
someone love a person who does evil? And what should someone do if that person
is a family member?

There is one complication for young
readers. The contemporary example Mark reflects upon and discusses with his
family concerns Pol Pot, the Cambodian leader
responsible for "the killing field". From the limited information
supplied in the book, a young reader may only be able to surmises that Pol Pot must be like Hitler, but not be aware exactly how.
Teachers using this book might want to brush up on the background of Pol Pot and also have a ready supply of other examples that
might be more relevant for their particular audience. Otherwise this is an
excellent book for introducing the ethical issues of dealing with loyalty and
evil actions.

Jackie French is the author of numerous
children’s and young adult books. She studied Graphic Design at Swinburne University (Australia). She worked as art director and creative director, before
becoming a full-time illustrator and author. Some of her award
winning books for children include: Rain Stones (1991) the CBC Children’s Book of the Year Award for Younger
Readers; Walking the Boundaries (1994)
a Notable Book in the CBC Awards; Somewhere Around the Corner (1995) an Honour
Book in the CBC Awards; and How to Guzzle Your Garden (2000) CBC Eve Pownall Award for Information. Most recently, French won
the 2002 ACT Book of the Year Award for In the Blood.
Hitler’s Daughter won the Australian Children’s Book award, the
CBC Younger Readers Award, and the United Kingdom WOW! Award.

Hitler’s Daughter by Jackie French is an engrossing
novel that demands the reader confront the challenging issues of
"relative" evil. This is a great book for the classroom. I highly
recommend this book for teachers and parents – my one caveat is the above
mentioned reference to Pol Pot. Teachers and parents
should be ready with information about Pol Pot as
well as having additional contemporary examples to use as substitutes. Recommended. (Ages 8 and older) 

© 2003 Su Terry

Su Terry: Education:
B.A. in History from Sacred Heart University, M.L.S. in Library Science from
Southern Connecticut State College, M.R.S. in Religious Studies/Pastoral
Counseling from Fairfield University, a M.Div. in
Professional Ministry from New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a Certificate in
Spirituality/Spiritual Direction from Sacred Heart University. She is a
Licensed Minister of the United Church of Christ and an Assistant Professor in
Library Science at Dowling College,
Long Island, NY.
Interests in Mental Health: She is interested in the interplay between
psychology, biology, and mysticism. Her current area of research is in the
impact of hormonal fluctuation in female Christian mystics.

Categories: Children