• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7

During WWII, a young girl learns a lesson about humanity and kindness that extends past enemy lines.

Ellen's life changes dramatically as the effects of war reach the British countryside where she lives. Rationing food and dealing with constant air raids is awful... but things get even worse when her beloved father gets injured and is taken to the hospital in another town. Ellen is left alone so that her mother can take care of him, and has to make very big decisions for a young girl. When a bomb leaves her trapped under a decaying building, she finds herself alone in the rubble with Carl, an escaped German airman! While waiting to be rescued, Ellen is surprised to find that the enemy is not at all what she thought he'd be.

Will Ellen do what she is supposed to and tell someone about Carl, or stay silent and give him a chance at freedom?

Jean Booker grew up in England during WWII, and moved to Canada after a ten-year correspondence with a pen-pal in Montreal. She has written many stories for children and was a member of long-standing writers group which included Bernice Thurman Hunter, Pat Hancock and Barbara Greenwood. She now lives in Bobcaygeon, Ontario.

Jean Booker's profile page

• Commended, Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre
• Commended, Canadian Children's Book Centre, Our Choice
• Short-listed, Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People