Pennies for Hitler Audiobook By Jackie French cover art

Pennies for Hitler

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Pennies for Hitler

By: Jackie French
Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
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It's 1939, and for Georg, son of an English academic living in Germany, life is full of cream cakes and loving parents. It is also a time when his teacher measures the pupils' heads to see which of them have the most 'Aryan'- shaped heads.

But when a university graduation ceremony turns into a pro-Nazi demonstration, Georg is smuggled out of Germany to war-torn London and then across enemy seas to Australia where he must forget his past and who he is in order to survive.

Hatred is contagious, but Georg finds that kindness can be, too. The companion piece to Hitler's Daughter, Pennies for Hitler examines the life of a child during World War II, from a different perspective.

©2012 Jackie French (P)2014 Bolinda Publishing Difficult Discussions Fiction Growing Up Growing Up & Facts of Life Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Discrimination War Survival

Critic reviews

"Jackie French's research and subsequent feeling for the era is superb (the descriptions of wartime Australia alone are fascinating). This is historical fiction at its best and thoroughly recommended for upper primary children and beyond." (Australian Bookseller and Publisher (5 stars))
"This striking fiction for school-age listeners gives an unflinching view of war and a close-up human perspective on asylum seekers." ( The Saturday Age)
"Evocatively written, Pennies is a gentle gem." ( Sydney Morning Herald)
All stars
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particularly with the excellent Humphrey Bower narrating. Though, unlike Courtenay, there aren't any big plot twists; it reads like someone's autobiography. Just before starting it, I met someone who had been sent away to boarding school at age 5 and I was obsessing with how this must have felt (and I remembered reading in Ted Turner's autobiography that he went away at4(?). Pennies gives a believable glimpse of a world far away from parents as seen by a child.

This could be a Bryce Courtenay novel

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As a long time fan of the Courtenay/Bower combination, and having run out of any more of them to read, I’m so glad I found this book. The story is beautiful. And Humphrey Bower could read me a phone book and I’d be in heaven.

Scratched my Bryce Courtenay itch

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I despair I will ever find another book this good. Fantastic narrator. Fabulous story. Who can want for more?

beyond 5 stars

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even the epilogue is interesting. I even cried during parts of the story. A very good read.

great story

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Would you try another book from Jackie French and/or Humphrey Bower?

Humphrey Bower? - Absolutely!!
Jackie French? - possibly not

What could Jackie French have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Cut out the long winded explanations.

What about Humphrey Bower’s performance did you like?

No question about the best narrator on the planet. He doesn't get paid enough.

LONG WINDED IN PLACES

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