Reading Response #2- Summer of My German Soldier

Reading Response-Summer of My German Soldier

I just finished the book I have been reading, so this is my final reading response for the teen fiction novel Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene. The challenge I will be trying to complete for this response is: Write an alternate ending. 

In the end of this book, Patty, the Jewish main character, admits to helping Anton, the German boy, stay alive. She even admits to sheltering him in her home and feeding him food! The case was taken to court, and Patty was sentenced to at least four months and no more than six months at Arkansas Reformatory for Girls. In the very last chapter, Patty's old Negro caretaker named Ruth visits her and brings her fried chicken breasts and ginger snaps (which were her favorite cookie). When the time came for Ruth to go, Patty made a big scene and told Ruth to take her with her. Ruth refused, and slowly left.

If I wrote this book, I am not so sure I would choose that to be the ending but I guess it was alright. If I had wrote the ending, it would probably be close to the author's original ending, except that I would have made a more solid ending. The closing paragraph reads: "For moments or minutes I just stood there. Not really moving. Barely managing to tread water. Was it possible for a beginning swimmer to make it to shore? It might take me my whole lifetime to find out."

For me, that sort of leaves the reader hanging... I like the endings to be more solid and complete than that. 

I would probably put something like:

"After Ruth left I waited for my days in the Reformatory for Girls to be over. About five and a half months later, I finally was released. When I got back, I found Ruth and lived with her until I was old enough to be on my own. After that, I moved out, far away from my old life and family. One day, Ruth called and told me she saw a man that looked like Anton go to every door in the county and ask for a "P.B." 

I immediately sent out search parties and ads for Anton and eventually found him sleeping by a fountin. I sold most of my posessions to buy a small house for us both. We got married and lived perfect lives after that."

I don't know why but I think that would be a nice ending for such an intense book.