How Huge The Night - A Book Review and an Amazon.com Giftcard Giveaway!!

About the Giveaway:  Kregel Publications is sponsoring an $50 Amazon.comgiveaway open to blog readers!  To enter all you have to do is send a tweet (using#litfuse) about How Huge the Night or share about it on Facebook!

If you tweet Litfuse will capture your entry when you use thehashtag (#litfuse). If you share it on Facebook or your blog, just email Litfuse and let them know (info@litfusegroup.com). Easy. Peasy. 

Not sure what to tweet/post? Here's an idea.

TWEET THIS:  How Hugethe Night - compelling, coming-of-age drama that will keep teens and adults alike turning the pages! #litfuse http://ow.ly/4RBXc

FACEBOOK THIS: How Hugethe Night by Heather & Lydia Munn is a compelling, coming-of-age drama thatwill keep teens and adults alike turning the pages late into the night!http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/text/13181161

About How Huge the Night

"Seldom have the horrors of war upon adolescents--or the heroism of which they are capable--been so clearly portrayed. I loved this coming-of-age story."
--Patricia Sprinkle, author of Hold Up the Sky

Fifteen-year-old Julien Losier just wants to fit in. But after his family moves to a small village in central France in hopes of outrunning the Nazis, he is suddenly faced with bigger challenges than the taunting of local teens.

Nina Krenkel left her country to obey her father's dying command: Take your brother and leave Austria. Burn your papers. Tell no one you are Jews. Alone and on the run, she arrives in Tanieux, France, dangerously ill and in despair.

Thrown together by the chaos of war, Julien begins to feel the terrible weight of the looming conflict and Nina fights to survive. As France falls to the Nazis, Julien struggles with doing what is right, even if it is not enough-and wonders whether or not he really can save Nina from almost certain death.

Based on the true story of the town of Le Chambon-the only French town honored by Israel for rescuing Jews from the Holocaust-How Huge the Night is a compelling, coming-of-age drama that will keep teens turning the pages as it teaches them about a fascinating period of history and inspires them to think more deeply about their everyday choices.

About the Authors

About Heather:  Heather Munn was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in southern France where her parents were missionaries like their parents before them. She has a BA in literature from Wheaton College and now lives in a Christian intentional community in rural Illinois, where she and her husband, Paul, host free spiritual retreats for the poor, especially those transitioning out of homelessness or addiction. When not writing or hosting, she works on the communal farm.

About Lydia: Lydia Munn, daughter of missionary parents, grew up in Brazil. She received a BA in literature from Wheaton College, and an MA in Bible from Columbia Graduate School of Bible and Missions. With her husband, Jim, she has worked in church planting and Bible teaching since 1983, notably in St. Etienne, near the small town in the central mountains of France which forms the background of How Huge the Night. The Munn's now live in Grenoble, France.

What I Thought:

I thought that this was a fantastic book.  It ropes you in with the goodness of the characters and the tumulotous journey they experience both together and apart. We are first introduced to 15 year old Julien who has been displaced from his family's home in Paris to relocate with his grandfather in the French countryside.  Julien, like any teenager, feels angst when he has had to leave his friends and familiar surroundings for the safety of the country.  He has fears of being the "new kid" at school, not being able to make friends, and the "what ifs" of World War II.   Through Julien we are shown how hard it is to change, accept change and make change. 

We see through the eyes of not only Julien, but Benjamin as well, a Jewish boy who has been sent to live with Julien's family in the countryside.  Hopefully far away from Hitler's reach and persecution.  Benjamin shows us how hard it is to be different ... Jewish in a Protestant community.  Away from his parents when everyone else has theirs.  We see both Julien and Benjamin grow and thrive in a not so perfect world. 

On the flip side of the beauty of the countryside, we meet Nina and Gustav, opraned Jewish children from Austria who are also trying to escape the Nazi regime.  While never placed in a concentration camp, these siblings enounter hardships, face others bigotry yet also learn to see the good in people in a harsh world. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this books and the facts within.  If only my high school history teacher could read this post.  He might fall off of his chair.  This book is history, made interesting.  Or fiction with a touch of history.  There are notes at the end of the book which outline the historical fact that is contained in the book, as well as pointing out items of fiction therein. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a good historical novel.  Great even for teenage boys to read - no romance or mushy stuff contained!  Great items for discussion shoudl you want to recommend for your next book club reading! 

I received a copy of this book, free of charge, from Litfuse Publicity Group in exhange for my honest opinion which I am pleased to present in this blog post.  To see what others have to say about it, visit any one of the other bloggers who are joining me in this tour.

Blog Tour Schedule:

5/12

Julie Arduini: The Surrendered Scribe http://juliearduini.com/

Growing For Christ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ohiosarah

Tina’s Book Reviews http://www.tinasbookreviews.com/

Jami's Reviews http://jamisreviews.blogspot.com/

5/13

 In the Pages http://inthepages.blogspot.com/ 

Goannatree http://goannatree.blogspot.com

Footprints in the Butter http://debrakb.blogspot.com/

Book, Books Everywhere http://bookbookseverywhere.blogspot.com/

5/14

 Scraps of Life http://cafescrapper-scrapsoflife.blogspot.com/

 Books R Us http://www.booksrusonline.com/

 Starts At Eight http://www.startsateight.com/

 Ramblin' Roads http://ramblinroadstoeverywhere.blogspot.com/

5/16

Alas 3 Lads http://www.alas3lads.blogspot.com/

The 160 Acrewoods http://www.the160acrewoods.com/

Seize the Book Blog http://www.seizethebookblog.blogspot.com/

A Heart Poured Out http://tracyedukes.com/

5/17

The Book Tree http://thebooktree.blogspot.com/

That's What I'm Here For http://www.dianeestrella.com/

Window To My World http://berlysue.blogspot.com/

My Reading Room http://myreadingroom-crystal.blogspot.com/

5/18

The Gandy's Home Base http://thegandyshomebase.blogspot.com/

Proud Book Nerd http://proudbooknerd.com/ 
I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/
Hobbit Door http://hobbitdoor.blogspot.com/

5/19

Lighthouse Academy http://lighthouse-academy.blogspot.com/

My Scrappy Life http://kayebug2002.blogspot.com/

 My 5 Monkeys http://www.tableforseven-julie.blogspot.com/

 Melinda Joy: Living, Laughing, Loving http://www.reviewsbymelindajoy.com/

The Twinners Reviews & Giveaways http://www.thetwinners.com/

5/20

Rambles of a SAHM http://ramblesahm.blogspot.com/

Canadian Ladybug Reviews! http://www.canadianladybugreviews.com/

Giveaway Lady http://giveawaygal.blogspot.com/

5/21

Musings By Lynn http://www.musingsbylynn/@blogspot.com

Legacy of a Writer http://www.katieslegacy.blogspot.com/

Knits, Reads and Reviews http://knitsandreads.blogspot.com/

Daysong Reflections http://daysongreflections.com/

5/23

The Review Stew http://www.thereviewstew.com/

Day by Day in Our World http://daybydayinourworld.blogspot.com/

Family Literacy and You http://familyliteracyandyou.blogspot.com/

Home is Where God Sends You http://www.homeiswheregodsendsyou.blogspot.com/

5/24

A Cozy Reader's Corner Reviews http://acozyreaderscorner.blogspot.com/

Farming On Faith http://farmingonfaith.blogspot.com/

Doorkeeper http://reneeannsmith.com/

Reviews From The Heart http://reviewsfromtheheart.blogspot.com/

5/25

Taking Time for Mommy http://takingtimeformommy.com/

Single Parent Retreat http://www.singleparentretreat.com/

Maureen's Musings http://musingsbymaureen.blogspot.com/

Simply Stacie http://simplystacie.net/

5/26

One Desert Roses' Blog--Christian Book Reviews http://www.onedesertrose.wordpress.com/

The Legacy of Home http://thelegacyofhome.blogspot.com/

Wakela's World http://www.wakelarunen.com/

Broken Teepee http://brokenteepee.com/

I Dream Of Writing for God http://sharonalavy.blogspot.com/