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Reviewed by Patricia Althoff for Readers' Favorite
In "Defiant Heart" Marty Steere places a newly orphaned teenage boy from Manhattan, Jon Meyer, in the isolated midwestern town of Jackson, Indiana, population 300. His 80-year-old grandmother, Marvella Wilson, is his only remaining relative, so she is obliged to take him in, although they have never met. (It seems the early 1900s following World War I was not the time for her daughter to have married a Jewish man.) While Jon and his grandmother gradually build a relationship, Jon's intelligence and aptitude for "just about anything" initially endears him to the community. Once school begins, the Basketball Team and coach begin a rampage of harassment, which escalates when it is discovered Jon is Jewish. Meanwhile, Mary Dahlgren and Jon begin a complicated friendship destined to be more, thus the title, "Defiant Heart". A series of events centered around the beginning of World War II add intrigue and suspense form the story of this well-written book.
I recommend that you begin to read this book early in the day, as you will not want to put it down until it is finished. Steere endears the primary characters as skillfully as he inspires intense dislike toward the antagonists, and you will find yourself wanting to jump into the story and assist the action. Steere's historical setting (just as World War II is about to draw the United States into the action) makes the interaction among the townspeople believable, and conversely, the story helps the reader understand more about the time period in which it was set. A recommended read for middle school through adult.
