198 children boarded the train to Holland and waved goodbye to their parents, their homes, their country, to everything they know. They are headed to England where they might be safer than with their own families in Germany. Max Bretzfeld is one of those 198 and he is very unhappy. It's 1939 and war is taking over Europe. Max, a young Jewish boy, is headed to London where he will be taken in by a well-to-do family, the Montagus, also Jewish. All Max can think about is getting back to Germany to take care of his parents.
How can a 12-year old boy fight back against the Germans who are threatening his Jewish parents? How can a 12-year old boy protect people he loves?
Every now and then you meet a character in a story who is everything you wish you could be. The usual private school crew iced in prejudice is about to face off with a kid who is so much smarter than they ever imagined. The right person at the right time can add up to opportunity and hope. Max just might be headed to Germany as an undercover agent. Any chance he will survive?
Human beings at their best and human beings at their worst drive this adventure. Who can you trust? For Max, the answer to that question is ... himself. And then... it comes down to what do you do when it's really all up to you?
Lessons from our collective past to be reminded of are here.
336 pages 978-0593112083 Ages 8-12
Keywords: historical fiction, action/adventure, espionage, spies, propaganda, Jewish, World War II, Holocaust, family, parents, courage, Nazis, self reliance, main character male, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, part of a series, duology, humor
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
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Max Bretzfeld doesn’t want to move to London.
Leaving home is hard and Max is alone for the first time in his life. But not for long. Max is surprised to discover that he’s been joined by two unexpected traveling companions, one on each shoulder, a kobold and a dybbuk named Berg and Stein.
Germany is becoming more and more dangerous for Jewish families, but Max is determined to find a way back home, and back to his parents. He has a plan to return to Berlin. It merely involves accomplishing the impossible: becoming a British spy.
The first book in a duology, Max in the House of Spies is a thought-provoking World War II story as only acclaimed storyteller Adam Gidwitz can tell it—fast-paced and hilarious, with a dash of magic and a lot of heart.---from the publisher
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“There's a man who leads a life of danger
To everyone he meets he stays a stranger
With every move he makes another chance he takes
Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
Secret agent man
Secret agent man…”
– Johnny Rivers (1966)
“As Max lay on pillows softer than he had ever imagined pillows could be, he realized that Hans Fritzsche was talking about the Montagus. They were English Jews. In fact, Mr. Montagu, in addition to being a lord, owned a bank.
Max had heard about these English bankers and rich Jews for his whole life. Whenever his teacher in school blamed the ‘Jewish conspiracy’ for anything, Max would always wonder which Jews were part of this conspiracy. Max obviously wasn’t. And his parents certainly didn’t seem to be. It was rare that a Nazi ever explained which Jews were supposedly to blame for ruining Germany’s economy, which Jews had tried to subjugate Germany like some destitute colony, which Jews were bringing the whole world to the edge of war…but when they did, it was always the rich Jews of England.
It was the Montagus. And people like them.
Max didn’t know whether the Montagus were responsible for all that or not. It didn’t seem likely.
But then he stopped wondering about it because Dr. Joseph Gobbels came on the air. Gobbels was Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. He was always on the radio, shouting into the microphone. Tonight, his speech was particularly terrifying. ‘I will remind you what our Supreme Leader Adolf Hitler has so wisely said: if there is another war in Europe, it will not lead to the destruction of Germany, but to the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!’
‘I can’t stay here,’ Max said to Berg and Stein, switching off the wireless.
‘What?’ Berg cried.
‘Look at this place! You think you could do better?’ Stein demanded. ‘You want to go live with that priest you saw at the ferry? Trust me, the food will be a lot worse.’
‘No,’ said Max. He put a pillow over his face. ‘I have to go home.’
Stein and Berg fell silent.
‘You can’t mean that,’ said Stein
‘Going back there would be madness,’ Berg agreed.
‘Especially after everything your parents must have done to get you out,’ Stein reminded him.
Max said it again: I have to get home.’”
Twelve-year-old Max Bretzfeld is a super-brainy kid with a gift for thinking and plotting a dozen steps ahead of everyone else. This serves him well, being that he is German and Jewish, and the world is on the cusp of WWII.
In the wake of Kristallnacht, Max’s parents reluctantly decided to send Max to England on a Kindertransport boat. There, he is fostered by a Jewish family—the Montagus—and tortured by anti-Semetic teachers and classmates (just like back in Germany). He is constantly plagued by the fear of not hearing from his parents, nor knowing how they are…or if they are.
Turns out that a close relative of his foster family is a British spy. And so Max, in the wake of pulling one of the funniest pranks in the history of children’s literature, decides that he needs to persuade those in charge to make HIM a spy so he can return to Germany, reconnect with his beloved parents, intercept valuable information, and help Britain defeat the Nazis..
Oh. And adhered to his shoulders are a pair/comedy team of mythological (and often cantankerous) creatures—Stein and Berg—with whom only Max can see and communicate.
MAX IN THE HOUSE OF SPIES is an absolute hoot. No, the Brits never really parachuted a twelve-year-old spy into Nazi Germany. Certainly not one with a kobold perched on one shoulder and a dybbuk on the other. This gem of a yarn is thoroughly captivating and entertaining historical fiction. It’s a first rate thriller/adventure story, one that is frequently laugh-out-loud funny.
BIG warning: This is the first half of a duology. Upon reaching the last page, you are likely to start going nuts like me, waiting for Adam Gidwitz and Dutton Children’s Books to hurry the heck up and get us the second book: MAX IN THE LAND OF LIES.
Recommended by: Richie Partington, MLIS, California USA
See more of Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com/> http://richiespicks.pbworks.co
