A powerful story about the horrors of war, twisting to an alternative perspective that we do not always hear- the point of view of a German child. Like with a lot of war based stories, we see the highs at the beginning or war, with infectiously positive morale, which gradually deteriorates as the harsh realities kick in, and truths are uncovered.
Similarly to The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, Rose Blanche is an empathetic character who discovers something terrible. Rose suffers as a result of trying to help those in need and is trapped in the same way as those that she tries to support. Her actions are a stark contrast to the adult characters in the story, and it would be interesting for children to discuss the reasoning behind this.
This is definitely a story for a maturer primary child (y6), and would slot in nicely with work based on WW2.