• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7

A young WWII gunner from the Prairies sees the horrors of war firsthand when he is captured by the Gestapo.

Eighteen-year-old Sam Frederiksen has come a long way from the Prairies. Trained to be a gunner in a Lancaster bomber during WWII, he is shot down over France. Battered and bruised, he does survive, and joins forces with the French Resistance... only to be betrayed by one of its members. He and other flyers from various Allied countries are rounded up by the Gestapo and held in Fresnes prison just outside of Paris.

Treated as spies, rather than POWs, these men are beaten, some tortured - then sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp in eastern Germany. It is here, in these wretched conditions, that Sam witnesses the darkest side of humanity - gas chambers, torture and starvation. Yet it is also here that he comes to understand the true resilience and unfathomable courage of the victims.

Author Carol Matas has won numerous awards for her previous novels about the Holocaust. Behind Enemy Lines is partially based on a true incident from WWII, in which 168 Allied airmen were captured and sent to Buchenwald. Twenty-six of these men were Canadian.

Carol Matas is an internationally acclaimed author of over thirty-five novels for children and young adults. Her best-selling work, which includes three award-winning series, has been translated into Spanish, Japanese, Taiwanese, Turkish, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, German, French, Indonesian and Russian.
A graduate of the Actor's Lab, in London England, Carol first earned a B.A. (English) from The University of Western Ontario. Her teaching experience includes Artists in the School, Manitoba Arts Council;visiting professor at Bemidji State University, Minnesota; and a Creative Writing instructor, Continuing Education Division, The University of Winnipeg. Carol is an inspiring and passionate speaker who is frequently invited to address children and adults alike across North America.
Carol writes contemporary and historical fiction, as well as science fiction and fantasy. She first began writing historical fiction when her Danish husband told her stories about his parents' experiences fighting the Nazis in World War II. She has often written about Jewish themes, and is well known for her books concerning the Holocaust, writing Daniel's Story at the request of The United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. Over the years, her knack for successfully infusing serious and thought-provoking issues into an action-driven format has kept readers of all ages engaged.
The list of awards for her books is long, and includes two Sydney Taylor awards, The Geoffrey Bilson award, a Silver Birch award, The Jewish Book Award, as well as the inclusion of her books on many honour lists, such as the ALA notable list, The New York Times Review notable list, The New York Public Library list for the Teen Age, and the Voya books in the middle, Best Book list. She has also been nominated for the Governor General Award twice.
More information is about Carol is available on her web site: http://www.carolmatas.com.

Carol Matas' profile page

Praise for I Am Canada: Behind Enemy Lines

"What starts as a rip-roaring adventure soon becomes a sobering account of strength in the face of adversity...the subject matter is difficult but ultimately uplifting." -The Montreal Gazette

"The narrative voice is potent and realistic, and Carol Matas does a marvelous job...Behind Enemy Lines is a fantastic account of one Canadian's struggles through World War II in occupied France." -CM Magazine

"The action is relentless and the reader will be turning the pages feverishly to see what happens next... There is no telling here, only masterful revealing through fascinating characters and lively dialogue." -Resource Links