Okopenko's portrayal of a young boy during the Hitler years begins at the end, with the collapse of the Nazi Reich, then works its way back to 1939. Told from the child's perspective, it paints a vivid picture of what it was like to grow up in a state where almost everything was seen in terms of National Socialist ideology. The basic mode of realistic narration is enriched with a wide variety of stylistic devices, ranging from diary entries, school essays, lists and dramatised dialogue to abrupt switches of perspective and poetic evocations of mood. The inclusion of a large number of authentic 'objects' -- for example, songs, jokes, posters and slogans -- helps to give the reader the flavour of the period. 'Child Nazi' is about childhood and adolescence, but it is also about childhood and adolescence at a time when even the most personal thoughts and feelings were manipulated by the ruling system to bind the rising generation to Nazism and its leaders.