Sofarende is at war. For twelve-year-old Mathilde, it means food shortages, feuding neighbors, and bombings. Even so, as long as she and her best friend, Megs, are together, they'll be all right. But the army is recruiting children, and paying families well for their service. If Megs takes the test, Mathilde knows she will pass. Megs hopes the army is the way to save her family. Mathilde fears it might separate them forever.
This touching and suspenseful novel is a brilliant re-imagining of war, where even kindness can be a weapon, and children have the power to see what adults cannot.
"At first, Mathilde doesn’t understand what the children are doing. They seem to be playing strategy games. After a few days, she realizes that they are tracking the progress of the war, monitoring transmissions, and producing intelligence used to stop the progress of the enemy. Mathilde is given another job, though. She is sent to talk to Rainer, a prisoner of war, with whom she soon develops a close relationship. Writing in the first person, LaFleur crafts a protagonist who is compassionate and resourceful, in a war-ravaged world in which children are, by turns, exploited and empowered." -- Kathy Kirchoefer, School Library Journal
Recommended Age | 10 and up |
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Author | Suzanne LaFleur |
ISBN | 0307980324 |
Publication Date | Sep 13, 2016 |
Publisher | Wendy Lamb Books |
Language | English |