Booksparks #PopUpBlogTour: WHO ARE YOU, TRUDY HERMAN? by B.E. Beck

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Booksparks is at it again with another....




#PopUpBlogTour!


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It's time for another FABULOUS #PopUpBlogTour thanks to the wonderful folks at Booksparks who are eager to put YOU right there with the best of the best of recently released titles. Take today's for example...it's a story of a young girl made to grow up too fast, experiencing prejudice and racism you might find unbelievable.  While the story IS Fiction, it doesn't stop the truth of the inspiration behind it because internment of this nature actually DID happen on our own soil to people seeking a new life in these United States and receiving far less than what they worked for.  Ready for a dose of reality with your fiction escape?  Ready or not, here comes today's #PopUpBlogTour featured title...

Who Are You, Trudy Herman?

by

B.E.Beck

9781631523779

She Writes Press

About the book...

As a little girl, Trudy Herman is taught to stand up for truth by her much-loved grandfather. Then in 1943, Trudy’s childhood drastically changes when her family is sent to a German-American Internment Camp in Texas. On the journey to the camp, Trudy meets Ruth, who tells her and her friend Eddie the legend of the Paladins—knights of Emperor Charlemagne who used magic gifted to them by the heavens to stand up for virtue and truth. Ruth insists both Trudy and Eddie will become modern-day Paladins—defenders of truth and justice—but Trudy’s experiences inside the camp soon convince her that she doesn’t have what it takes to be a knight.

After two years, her family is released from the camp and they move to Mississippi. Here, Trudy struggles to deal with injustice when she comes face to face with the ingrained bigotries of the local white residents and the abject poverty of the black citizens of Willow Bay. Then their black housekeeper—a woman Trudy has come to care for—finds herself in crisis, and Trudy faces a choice: look the other way, or become the person her grandfather and Ruth believed she could be?

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What a curious read! It really makes you wonder how fine a line the story walks between reality and fiction...I mean, WERE those in the US put in internment camps because of their heritage or continued familial connections with those from their homeland? I couldn't help but wonder...and though my Google searches rendered that questioned possibility as a truth, it still struck me as absurd. On one hand, I get it...some might have been in cahoots and passing information, but the majority?  Did it really warrant the basic imprisonment of a people to weed out who was who?  *shakes head*  Anywho...

Throughout my reading journey, I came to one conclusion time and again.  Trudy was such a resilient little girl...not so little by experience now though, as sad as that may be, nor age wise by book's end.  True, she held the secrets of others when perhaps it might have been better to expose them to the light of day, but she was carrying out their wishes and in truth, they weren't hers to share.  My heart broke when her Grandfather visited her for the last time, and again when she witnessed what she witnessed at the camp, and yet again when she felt so incredibly helpless to come to the aid of her new "friend".  She had come such a long way and though the fence was gone she could still see the forest for the trees. She realized that not all cages have bars and sometimes those are the hardest of all to break free from.  Trudy met her match as the world kept trying to knock her back and allow the fear to take control, but in the end, she found the strength she needed to knock down at least one wall...and I've no doubt if we followed her story further, she'd continue to wow us all.

As I reached the end, I couldn't help but think that it's truly more of a beginning...and I was completely wrecked.  No really, tear filled eyes overflowing and all. It's not a pretty story and if you're looking for a happily ever after, think again. It's gritty, raw, and filled with the dark side of humanity...but even in those darkest moments, there is hope...if only we're strong enough, have faith enough to reach for it.  Trudy truly was the Paladin Ruth recognized her to be, so I guess the REAL question now is...WHO ARE YOU?

Recommended for Young Adult fans as well as Historical Fiction fans from teen-dom years and beyond.

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About the author...

B. E. Beck is an educator and writer. She taught at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, before moving to the Seattle College District. She and her husband live in the Seattle area. Her work has appeared in journals and anthologies.

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Special thanks to Leila at Booksparks and the She Writes Press team for the chance to bring this title to you as well as the ARC for review! (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, the publisher, or the promotion team, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is set to release May 8th, 2018, so mark your calendar or pre-order your copy today.

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!