Summary: Erich is a four-year-old German boy living in a children’s home towards the end of World War II. His mother comes to see him and his younger brother, Hans, on the rare occasions that she can get away from work, but after a frightful night of bombing, his mother stops appearing altogether. Post-war Germany was a place of terrible food shortages and displaced children, and Erich and Hans become some of the hundreds of German children taken to Ireland and placed with foster families under the auspices of Project Shamrock. Many of these children were only fostered temporarily, until their families could be located and conditions improved, but although Erich clings to the idea of his mother coming to take him home, he must eventually face the reality of a more permanent stay in Ireland. Shuttled between foster families, Erich struggles to fit in with his schoolmates, win the affection and approval of the grown-ups in his life, and find a place - and a family - in which he can finally belong.

Review: Most World History courses seem to stop at the end of WWII, and my Recent History courses were always Recent U.S. History. (I prefer to get my history through fiction, anyhow.) In any event, Hitler and Mars Bars was an interesting book that opened my eyes to a slice of history that I never knew existed. Post-war Europe is not something that I’d ever considered in great detail, and this book gave an interesting insight into the effects of the war on the lives of everyday children. Operation Shamrock was - from what I can tell - an extremely well-meaning and reasonably successful program, and this book certainly tugs at the heartstrings more than once, as Erich (and other children) try to find in Ireland what they’d lost in Germany.

Erich is a well-drawn narrator, with a wholly believable voice. However, I thought this book missed an opportunity by limiting itself just to Erich’s point of view. At various places throughout the book, I found myself wanting to know about other people’s perceptions - the foster parents, the other foster children, the Red Cross workers, etc. Because I’d never heard of Operation Shamrock before this book, I wanted to see more facets of it, and more detail than could be provided from Erich’s limited perspective. Hitler and Mars Bars tells Erich’s story vividly and with great empathy; I just think a little branching out would have made it a more robust read. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Fans of WWII-era historical fiction will find this a quick and interesting read with a new perspective on the war and its aftermath. ( )

Perfect for : Personal reading, book club read, possible History class read?

In a nutshell: This book was very eye-opening for me. I've never considered the after-affects of war, and it's children: the destruction, hunger, military presence, loss of friends and family, etc. This wonderful book follows the life of 4 year-old Erich for 10 years as he is affected by World War II, and as he is transported to Ireland with his 3 year-old brother Hans as part of Operation Shamrock. The brothers are separated and re-united, then separated again, as they go from one foster home to another. Rather than focusing on the war itself, this book focuses on the children affected by the war, and the Irish families who worked so hard to foster the children until they could be returned to their families. I highly recommend this book. Using a preface, the author does a wonderful job of giving the reader some basic information regarding Operation Shamrock, including the fact that the planned duration of Operation Shamrock was three years, over 400 children between the ages of three and fifteen were helped, and that approximately fifty children remained in Ireland.

My Review:
This book is filled with vibrant examples of daily life in both Germany (early in the book) and Ireland, including both positive and negative aspects faced by the children helped by Operation Shamrock.

The story centers around Erich, a boy of four who is living in a children's home because his father has died and his mother must work at the local train station and there is no one else to watch him and his brother. The area is heavily bombed, and Erich doesn't hear from his mother for over a year, at which time Operation Shamrock has been started to take some of the malnourished German children to neighboring Ireland where families are waiting to foster them until they are returned to their families.

Erich loves the attention he receives from the adults within some of the families, and turns into a rival with some of the children, fighting for the love and stability his little person so desperately needs.

Facing the challenge of learning a new language, he is seen as different by other children, some of whom embrace him and become friends, while others taunt him and make him feel like an outsider.

Characters: The author has done a great job of creating Erich and helping the reader to see and understand what he went through during and after World War II, as many parts of Germany had to be rebuilt. My favorite characters were Daddy Davy and Aunt Elsie, who seemed to have the perfect environment and personalities to help Erich. With many well-written characters, it is easy to love or hate them, depending on their role and interactions with Erich.

Story-Line: This is a wonderfully-written fictionalization of a boy who was helped by the Red Cross through their Operation Shamrock, which I had never heard of prior to reading this book.

Readability: I found the book easy to read and very informative to what daily life was like in Germany and Ireland during and after World War II.

Overall: A very thought-provoking story that really touched the "Mom" portion of my heart. This book helped me to look at war, or rather the impact of war on families and children, in a different light, and to see that there are wonderful people willing to open their hearts and homes to help those in need. I really enjoyed reading this book, and discussing it with friends and family. It would be a great book club read as there are plenty of aspects to discuss. ( )

As a small child, Erich and his brother Hans live at the Goldschmidthaus in Germany while their mother works at a nearby train station during World War II. Following the war, the children from Goldschmidthaus are taken to Ireland as a part of Operation Shamrock, a Red Cross initiative that removed children from post-war Germany and fostered them with Irish families. Upon their arrival in Ireland, Erich and Hans are separated and sent to different foster families. The first family for each child does not work out, and the two find themselves reunited when they are fostered by the Elliotts, who they call Daddy Davy and Aunt Elsie. The two spend several happy years there. However, they are forced to leave when the Elliotts are no longer able to care for them. They remain together for a time, but the situation is less than ideal. They are once again separated- Hans will go to live with his friend Bobby, and Erich returns to the Elliotts. Once again, though, it is not meant to last, and Erich is sent away again to try to make his way in a world that does not seem to want him.

Admittedly, I had no knowledge of Operation Shamrock. United States history classes tend to gloss over the international relief and humanitarian efforts in the post-war period. As it states on the back cover, Hitler and Mars Bars by Dianne Ascroft does not attempt to tell the whole story of Operation Shamrock. But for me, it was a refreshing look at something about which I had no prior knowledge. But Operation Shamrock is only the background. At it's heart, this is Erich's story. You can really feel his confusion about why his mother doesn't come for him, and his desperate desire to feel loved. Throughout the story, Erich struggles to make friends with other boys, and has quite a bit of jealousy where his brother is concerned. This is due in large part to that need to feel loved, I think. Boys tease, and he has a hard time dealing with that. Girls and adults are more compassionate, and he needs to feel that compassion.

Throughout the book, I kept hoping it would lead to a happy ending. I didn't get the happy ending I was exactly looking for, but I did like the way the book ended- with hope. Even though Erich didn't get exactly what he was looking for and what he wanted, he began to realize that there were ways to get some of the things he wanted and needed.

One thing I particularly appreciated was the way in which Erich's voice came across. I've read books told from the point of view of a child before- and the child would always come across as whiny, annoying, and bratty. Erich did not come across this way to me. Erich maintained a child's voice, but it enhanced the story rather than detracted from it.

I very much hope Ms. Ascroft will continue to write, and I look forward to reading more by her in the future. I definitely recommend this to anyone interested in historical fiction or in Irish fiction. ( )

This is the story of a young German boy who becomes part of Operation Shamrock which helped German children after the Second World War by moving them to foster families in other parts of Europe. In Erich’s case he is moved to Ireland. We follow his experiences from his life in Germany during the latter stages of the War and the consequent journey taken to Ireland. Unable initially to communicate in English we are shown his sense of isolation, his longing to be returned to his mother and his adjustment to his new way of life. Written from Erich’s point of view we are able to understand the difficulties he faces but can also share the good times.

I always enjoy a novel which teaches me something new and certainly until I read about this book I was unaware of Operation Shamrock - through other books like Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Book Thief we are able to gain the German perspective of issues relating to the Second War World - and it is refreshing to exposed to the ‘other side of the coin’.

This is a good and interesting read. ( )