Dječak sa dva imena

A Boy with Two Names by Anton Ingolič is a war novel for young adults whose backbone is the fate of a boy separated from his biological mother during World War II. As a very young child, he ends up in a German family and grows up there under a different name, in a different language, environment and value system. After the war, it gradually becomes clear that his origins are not what he believed, and he faces a difficult transition from one identity to another.

The central conflict of the novel is not adventurous but internal: the boy must not only find out who he is, but also accept that he belongs to two experiences that cannot be easily reconciled. One family raised him, and the other is looking for him; he bears one name out of habit and a sense of security, and the other out of origin and truth. That is why the novel is, above all, a story about loss, belonging and the psychologically difficult return to one's own roots.

Ingolič writes clearly, concisely and focused on the event and feeling, without great embellishment. The war is constantly present in the background, but mostly through its consequences for the child: family breakdown, language change, insecurity and confusion about one's place in the world. That is why the work leaves a strong impression even today.

The literary and historical place of the novel is also important: the 1957 edition was the first book published in the cult "Squirrel" edition.