• Age: 12 to 14
• Grade: 7 to 9
• Reading age: 12 to 14

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.”

Kathy Kacer est une auteure primée qui a écrit de nombreux livres sur l'holocauste pour les jeunes lecteurs, dont The Magician of Auschwitz, L'histoire d'Edith, Le journal de Sara et Les espions de la nuit. Elle s'estime honorée de contribuer à faire connaître l'histoire familiale de Jenny Kay Dupuis. Kathy vit avec sa famille à Toronto.

Kathy Kacer has won many awards for her writing, including the American Jewish Library Association Award. In 1999, she wrote the first book in Second Story's Holocaust Remembrance Series, The Secret of Gabi's Dresser. Since then, she's penned four other books in the series. Kacer now writes about the Holocaust for young readers and travels the country speaking about it. Kacer lives in Toronto, Ontario, with her family.

Kathy Kacer's profile page

• Short-listed, Forest of Reading Award, Red Maple
• Winner, Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Award, Snow Willow

"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 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."

Parry Sound North Star

"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."

AJL News & Reviews

"A fast-paced, compelling story."

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

"(A) tense, exciting adventure about vital resistance. ... An accessible, well-paced story about courageous young people resisting the Nazis."

Kirkus Reviews