Trudi Montag has led a hard life, what with having Dwarfism and enjoying the dubious privilege of living in Burgdorf, a fictional German town, during World War II. Her mother Gertrude rejects her when at age four her "deformity" becomes apparent. Subsequent miscarriages push Gertrude to insanity, so Trudi's father gets her admitted to a mental facility and it's now the two of them.
Trudi's experience in school is that of malicious ostracization, her solitude only soothed by her dog Seehund and her Only Friend, Eva, who was born with a port-wine stain. After they have a fallout, Trudi learns that secrets can be dangerous. After all, Eva's reputation flounders when her shameful, closely-guarded "defect" becomes vox populi. This becomes Trudi's modus operandi when retaliating against bigoted assailants.
When the war and Jew raids start, Trudi and her father start smuggling Jewish townsfolk into their basement. Trudi gets arrested for deriding the regime, dates a man, and learns to love herself. Then, despite the war ending shortly after, that happiness comes crashing down because of her beau's death.
She then adopts little Hanna, an orphaned girl, but distances herself out of grief. This is only worsened by the demise of her father and beloved dog. The novel ends with Trudi reflecting on her life and getting to feel the love of everyone who's dear to her, even if they are no longer here.
Stones from the River is written by Ursula Hegi, a German inmigrant to the US, in 1994 as a way of sharing her own personal experiences.
Tropes:
- Dwarfism in Media: Trudi Montag is a dwarf trying to survive in a German town during WWII. She's rejected by her mother because of this and is generally ostracized by the townspeople. She reclaims some measure of power back by trading with personal secrets and later learns to love herself when she has her romantic feelings requited. She grows to be more than her "deformity" when she starts helping her Jewish neighbors not get abducted by the Gestapo.
- Why Couldn't You Be Different?: Georg Weiler, Trudi's friend when she was a little girl, spends most of his early life in girls' clothes because of his mother's issues with men.
- Wring Every Last Drop out of Him: This happens with both Trudi's father and her dog, in an apparent attempt at Death by Newbery Medal.
