Stones From the River

Stones From the River, a novel set in Germany from 1915 until after World War II, is about a Zwerg who discovers that being different is something all human beings share. Trudi Montag, the Zwerg, learns from several people and circumstances that even though not all differences are visual, everyone is different in his or her own way. Hegi lets the reader experience Trudi's struggle to try to fit into society by creating several circumstances in …

…but the fact that everyone is different and there is really no place to "fit in." The viewpoint is original, the events tragic and familiar, the characters an interesting mixture of good and bad combined into ordinary people in an ordinary town during a not-so-ordinary time. Although there are some very tragic points in the novel, the emotional rollercoaster Hegi takes the reader on is what makes Stones From the River such a great book.