Winter in Wartime by Jan Terlouw

For Caroline's (of Beauty is a Sleeping Cat) Literature and War Readalong for June:

I especially appreciated the strong characterization of Michiel in Winter in Wartime. I suppose one could call this a YA novel, yet the book was written before young adult fiction became an established genre. It was published in 1972 in the Netherlands, named the Best Dutch Juvenile for 1973, and received a Certificate of Honor from the International Board of Books for Young People.

I'm not familiar with the latter award, which makes me wonder if the organization is still in existence. It was published in Great Britain in 1975 and in 1976 in the U.S. It is still in print, no doubt with the help of the Dutch film of 2008.

Michiel, at age 16, is strong, stoic, heroic, yet full of self-doubt and, occasionally, low self-esteem, particularly when he judges his resistance actions and missions harshly when they do not come off as he planned. These characteristics make him an ideal YA protagonist.

I had a strong personal reaction to one of the characters, Dirk.
Dirk is twenty-one, supposedly an adult, yet to my mind, he does not have the foresight, fortitude, inner strength, or heroism of Michiel.

The author lets Dirk off the hook easily, and Michiel does as well, though a bit more reluctantly. Dirk was the one who killed the German soldier, whom the Germans found and then punished the entire town, including killing Michiel's father, the mayor. First of all, Dirk was fully aware of the repercussions for the town, because, as he noted, town-wide reprisals had taken place before. Dirk said he "tried" to hide the German soldier's body, by wrapping the body in a parachute and then executing a shallow burial. Dirk noted that the ground was too hard, and he couldn't bury the body as deeply as he wished. How stupid is that? Was there no other solution?

So, then, why didn't Dirk the Dimwit ask for help? He was connected with the resistance. His comrades would have known as well as he that many, many people would suffer if the Germans found the soldier's body. And, if the body had disappeared without a trace, there would likely have been no evidence and no reprisals.

Dirk was not a traitor as was Uncle Ben, it's true, but he may as well have been, given the consequences of his screw-up.

I did enjoy this novel and all the twists and turns, and I do look forward to borrowing the film very soon. Michiel and his sister Erica? (I think that was her name) were the noblest of characters, and I'm glad to have met them.

I will include this title in my Children's and YA Literature course, as one of the books that students may choose from in the project entitled "Children's Literature in Translation."