All But My Life: Megan Brody

The suspense started on the very first page of All But My life. Gerda wrote that the time seemed to stop at the time on the watch: 9:10. When she continued to talk about the specific time, I asked myself many questions: What happened? What's going on? I knew that once the book started to get a happy feeling, that Gerda's world would turn upside down; I was right. World War II is on the verge of commencing, Arthur, Gerda's brother, leaves home to enter into the military, and then Gerda and her family have to move to their basement just to stay safe. When Gerda first met Abek, I thought that he was going to be some old man stalking her, but it turns out that she loved him like a brother. Unfortunately for Abek, Gerda did not want to marry him, but he never stopped asking. I wonder if Gerda really wanted to say yes the first time Abek proposed to her. It broke my heart when Gerda and her parents were split apart. First it was her father that left Gerda and her mother, forever. Then, shortly after, Gerda and her mother were separated for the rest of their lives. The final words that Gerda's mother said to her, "Be strong," really touched my heart. At that moment, Gerda didn't even know that she would never see her mother again; that is just beyond heartbreaking. I would have thought that Gerda would bring up the courage to try and stick with her mother, at least turn around, but she couldn't get herself to do it. I was kind of shocked about that but once I asked myself if I would run to my mother in those circumstances, I knew that it would just make the situation even worse. I am looking forward to reading the rest of All But My Life. I am hoping that Gerda has a bright future ahead of her in the book, other than the furture I already know of.