Under the Iron Bridge

by Kathy Kacer

Overview

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.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772602050
Publisher:	Second Story Press
Publication date:	10/12/2021
Series:	The Holocaust Remembrance Series for Young Readers , #19
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	372,553
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	12 - 14 Years

About the Author

Kathy Kacer’s books have won a number of awards, including the Silver Birch and the Jewish Book Award. A former psychologist, Kathy now travels the globe speaking to children and adults about the importance of keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive. Kathy lives in Toronto with her family.

Editorial Reviews

"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 - Charlotte Stein

"A fast-paced, compelling story."

CM: Canadian Review of Materials - Karen Rankin

"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 - Ellen Drucker-Albert

10/01/2021

Gr 7 Up—World War II enthusiasts will enjoy this title that provides an in-depth, albeit fictional, depiction of the Edelweiss Pirates. This group is portrayed as courageous, defiant, and determined teenagers who are willing to risk their lives for what they believe is right. Paul Ritter is a 15-year-old German boy living in the late 1930s who is challenged to join the Hitler Youth. Paul experiences inward and outward struggles with the methodology of the group yet his parents convince him to join just so his safety will be ensured. He doesn't agree with the group's beliefs and yearns to effect change in his community, and joins the Edelweiss Pirates. What ensues is Paul's journey with the group. While approaching the emotional topic, Kacer does not go into graphic detail about the events that occur. There are some sensitive scenes, but they are presented much less graphically than in many similar books. The back matter explains some of the terms and events in the book in more detail. VERDICT 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.—Megan Honeycutt, Univ. of West Georgia, Carrollton

School Library Journal

2021-08-16
In the months before Kristallnacht, a German teen, hating the Hitler Youth, finds a youth club of freedom fighters.

Paul, a White, Christian 15-year-old in 1938 Düsseldorf, wishes pretty Analia still went to his school. They’ve shared one kiss, and she’s been his friend for years—but Analia, like other Jews, is no longer allowed to attend classes. Paul still has his best friend, but Harold is increasingly obsessed with the Hitler Youth; Paul loathes Adolf Hitler, the Nazis, and antisemitism, but what can he do? He still joins the Hitler Youth, because in a world where his own classmates inform on their parents to the Gestapo, is there any other way to be safe? But is Paul imagining things, or did he hear some brave—or reckless?—kids singing anti-Hitler songs? In fact Paul has discovered the Edelweiss Pirates, a real-life group of teens who met illegally across Hitler’s Germany to resist Nazism. Paul joins them, running increasingly risky schemes to cause petty annoyances for the Nazis, until he sees Analia on Kristallnacht, a series of concerted attacks on synagogues and Jewish homes and businesses. This leads to a climactic moment in their relationship. Although the real Pirates were predominately working class, Paul is the child of two doctors. Though the historical danger and torment are muted, this is a tense, exciting adventure about vital resistance.

An accessible, well-paced story about courageous young people resisting the Nazis. (historical note) (Historical fiction. 12-14)

Kirkus Reviews