Enemies in the Orchard

Enemies in the Orchard: A World War 2 Novel in Verse

Dana VanderLugt

Zonderkidz, 288 pp. ISBN: 978-0-31015-577-5

Grades 4 and up

Set in a Michigan apple orchard in 1944, this verse novel is written in the alternate perspectives of Claire and Karl. Claire is 13 and would rather go to school than work in her family’s orchard -  while her brother, Danny, is away fighting in Europe. Karl is a German prisoner of war, and his group is assigned to pick apples on Claire’s farm. This story of a POW labor camp in the U.S. offers readers a chance to consider the complications of war, family, and friendship and what it means to fight for what you believe.

Dana VanderLugt

Dana VanderLugt is a writer and teacher who descends from a family of Michigan apple growers and storytellers. 

Her first book, Enemies in the Orchard: A World War 2 Novel in Verse was published by Zonderkidz in September 2023. The middle grades novel is based on the stories of German POWs who came to work on her grandfather’s orchard during the 1940s.

Dana’s work has been published in Longridge Review, Relief: A Journal of Art & Faith, The Michigan Reading Journal, and The Reformed Journal, where she is also a frequent contributor on its daily blog. 

A former middle school English teacher, Dana now works as a literacy consultant and has an MFA in Creative Writing from The Sena Jeter Naslund-Karen Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. She lives in Michigan with her husband, three sons, and a spoiled golden retriever.

And yes, she makes a mean apple pie.

author website