By Jennifer A. Nielsen
4RBooks: 5+/6, grades 4-8
Amazon rating: 4.8/5, grade level 3-7
Good Reads: 4.33/5
Common Sense Media: 4/5, ages 8+
379 pages of story, 7 pages about codes, spies, and spy agencies
Synopsis:
Meg has not seen her father in over two years. He was called back into service by England to help their side during World War II. She lives in France with her mother and Grandmother. Neither of them knows that 12-year-old Meg is helping the French resistance against the invading Germans. Meg doesn’t know that her mother is helping them too as a radio operator.
One day Meg unfortunately draws the attention of a local German officer, Lieutenant Becker. On that same day, her mother is late coming home and Meg finds a wounded British officer, Captain Stewart, hiding in her barn. She and her family help him just in time to hide him from Lt. Becker and his soldiers as they come to search the property.
In the morning Meg learns that the Germans want to come back and question her and it has been decided she must escape now, before they come back. She will travel with 3 other people who are also trying to escape from France. Meg is given a letter full of clues from her father who is hiding in Germany and can only come home is Meg works with the others to get out of France. She must use her father’s codes, Captain Stewarts spy back pack, and her own courage and creativity to successfully complete the mission, while trusting people she has never met, both in her group, and along the way.
Parental Guidance: low
It is set in WWII and the main characters are escaping from the Nazis. As such, there are references to the evil the Germans are doing. People are captured and their fate is understood to be bad.
The main characters are constantly in danger with many suspenseful moments. People are shot, and blood is mentioned. Not of the violent scenes are graphically detailed. An avalanche occurs, and explosive devices are used.
Recommendation:
This was an excellent book, one that kept me interested from beginning to end. The story is an exciting adventure with thrills and dangers throughout most of the chapters. While predictable at times, there are surprises throughout. This is a worthy historical novel to help children understand the difficulties of war and the struggles many people have making moral choices in such conflicts. This would be great for a classroom or family read with many topics of discussion for all ages. Many “what would you do, “how would you feel,” and “was this the right or wrong thing to do” questions to be answered.
It is probably a 6-8th grade novel, but I think a 4th or 5th grade student could enjoy this book, with some guidance from an adult. Short chapters make it a very easy read. I think adults would enjoy this story, too.
This is the second historical novel I’ve read by author Jennifer A. Nielsen (Words on Fire) and they have both been excellent. She has at least three more I will look into in the future, plus two series.
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