Description
It’s 1938 in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Paul is feeling pressured to join the Hitler Youth. The last thing he wants to do is march around with a bunch of bullies, but even Paul’s parents think he should go along with his classmates in order to keep himself safe. When Paul meets the Edelweiss Pirates, a group of teenage boys and girls working to undermine the Nazis, he joins their rebel organization instead. Together they sabotage the Third Reich and rescue Jews wherever they can. But during the terrifying violence of Kristallnacht, Paul must step out of the shadows and make a life-changing decision. Inspired by the true story of the Edelweiss Pirates, a group that declared “Eternal War on the Hitler Youth.”
Author Bio
KATHY KACER’s award-winning list of Holocaust fiction and non-fiction for young readers includes The Secret of Gabi’s Dresser (winner of the OLA Silver Birch Award), The Diary of Laura’s Twin (winner of the National Jewish Book Council Award [US] and the Canadian Jewish Book Award), Hiding Edith (winner of the OLA Silver Birch Award, the Sydney Taylor Book Award [Association of Jewish Libraries], and the Yad Vashem Award for Children’s Holocaust Literature [Israel]), and To Look a Nazi in the Eye (a Sydney Taylor Honor Book for Teens). Her books have been published and translated in twenty countries. Kathy Kacer is the child of Holocaust survivors, and the parent of two actors and musical theatre performers. For more information, please go to www.kathykacer.com
Prizes
- Forest of Reading Award, Red MapleShort-listed 2023
- Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Award, Snow WillowWinner 2022
Review Quotes
"A fast-paced, compelling story."
— CM: Canadian Review of Materials"Readers will be thoroughly engaged in this exciting, yet fraught, historical fiction novel inspired by the true story of the Edelweiss Pirates... Kathy Kacer continues her skillful, sensitive and informative treatment of Holocaust themed works."
"This well-written, easily understandable portrayal of some events of the Holocaust will be an asset to middle and high school libraries and history teachers."
— School Library Journal"(A) tense, exciting adventure about vital resistance. ... An accessible, well-paced story about courageous young people resisting the Nazis."
— Kirkus Reviews"A novel I believe will encourage young people to ask themselves what they would do if faced with the same challenging moral questions these young characters must."
