Code Name Kingfisher
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- €2.99
Publisher Description
From million-copy bestselling author Liz Kessler comes the powerful new landmark World War II novel for fans of Michael Morpurgo and Phil Earle.
When Liv finds a secret box from her grandmother’s childhood she uncovers an extraordinary war-time story of bravery, betrayal and daring defiance. A story that will change Liv and her family forever…
Holland, 1942. The world is at war and as the Nazis’ power grows, Jewish families are in terrible danger. Twelve-year-old Mila and her older sister Hannie are sent to live with a family in another city with new identities and the strict instruction not to tell anyone that they are Jewish.
Hannie, determined to fight back, is swept into the Dutch resistance as an undercover agent: Code Name Kingfisher. And though Mila does her best to make friends and keep out of trouble, there is danger at every turn and the sisters are soon left questioning who they can trust…
“A breathtaking WW2 story of bravery and sisterhood, told with the utmost care, beauty and hope by an extraordinary storyteller.” - A.F. Steadman
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kessler (When the World Was Ours) intertwines two poignant stories via four alternating perspectives in this well-paced novel: one of Dutch Jewish sisters Mila, 12, and Hannie, 15, posing as Christians in WWII Amsterdam, the other of contemporary British 13-year-old Liv, who's navigating friendship troubles and her relationship with her cold, secretive grandmother. A school assignment to create a family tree stumps Liv, who knows nothing about her ancestry. But after her widowed paternal grandmother, Bubbe, moves to a care facility, Liv cleans out her attic and discovers a photograph dated 1942 that might provide clues to Bubbe's guarded nature—and help with Liv's assignment. Hannie's unsent letters to her mother are interspersed throughout Liv and Mila's dual POVs, and occasional later chapters are narrated by another Jewish child in Amsterdam. Narrative parallels between Liv's efforts in standing up to bullies and Hannie's work saving Jewish children with the Dutch Resistance feel some-what unevenly weighted, but skillfully structured suspense as well as Liv's persistence in learning—and helping complete—Bubbe's story makes for a rewarding read. A historical note concludes. Most characters present as white; many are Jewish. Ages 8–12.
