Backpack, Boy, Berlin: Based on a True Story of World War II Espionage

This is the true story of a boy risking it all to deliver secret anti-Nazi messages while navigating dark times and changing friendships in World War II–era Berlin. The haunting and immersive verse novel comes from critically acclaimed author Kip Wilson.

It’s 1938, and ten-year-old Don Heath Jr. moves with his mother and American diplomat father to Berlin, Germany. This move is different—now they are under the nose of the Führer Adolf Hitler. Over the next three years, Don falls in love with this diamond of a city, makes heart-deep friends, and watches the country descend into a propaganda-fueled state of terror and danger. He fears for his Jewish friends, their families torn apart. He becomes increasingly wary of his friend Mole, whose actions seem at odds with the Hitler Youth uniform he wears—for now. When Don’s tutor, Mildred Harnack, gives him a banned book with a secret note inside, he jumps at the chance to become a covert courier between his parents and the resistance—a perilous prospect in a city where anyone could be an enemy. This remarkable true story delves into the fear, hope, anger, and paranoia of World War II Berlin. Back matter includes an author’s note with more information about the people in the story, a glossary, and a selected bibliography.