In this Anna and the Swallow Man–meets–Code Name Verity narrative, Matt Killeen creates believable tension that will keep readers turning the page. At the end of August 1939, fifteen-year-old Sarah climbs out of her mother’s wrecked vehicle near the German-Swiss border. Her mother is dead, killed by gunfire. Sarah, a gymnast used to foraging for food as a Jew in Germany, takes to the rooftops until she meets and forms an alliance with Helmut Haller, the alias for a British spy working undercover as a businessman. He gives her the mission of befriending the daughter of a German scientist working on a bomb.
Under the name Ursula Haller, Sarah matriculates at a Nazi girls’ school. There, she uses her street smarts to overcome the trials she is expected to endure by her schoolmates, teachers, and the local SS. When Helmut is shot, she escapes from the school to care for him. Eventually, she is invited to the scientist’s massive estate, only to learn he has other secrets besides the bomb.
While there is a bit too much German language, which is not always explained and may go over the heads of young adult readers, the story sizzles with brilliant plotting and snappy dialogue. Killeen introduces complex characters; everyone has secrets. The depravity of the school is reminiscent of John Boyne’s The Boy at the Top of the Mountain. Yet, as Killeen points out in the back matter, he has based much of his story on fact.
Highly recommended for ages 13 to 16.
Barbara Krasner is the author of many books across genres, including fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and children’s literature. Her recent titles include 37 Days at Sea: Aboard the M.S. St. Louis, 1939, Civilian Casualties in War and Ethel’s Song: Ethel Rosenberg’s Life in Poems. Her book Goldie Takes a Stand! Golda Meir’s First Crusade was a recipient of the Sydney Taylor Honor Award. She holds a Ph.D. in Holocaust and genocide studies from Gratz College, teaches in the Holocaust and genocide studies program at the College of New Jersey, and serves as director of the Mercer County Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education Center. She also holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
