Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 06/21/2024 Gr 5 Up—Nielsen brings to life the true story of Lidia Durr, who grows from sheltered girl into fearless spy as Germany ravages Poland and her Warsaw home during WWII. From the moment the first bombs fall in September 1939, 12-year-old Lidia wants to help defend her country. Spanning more than five years, the first-person narrative captures Lidia's fierce commitment to the resistance and why she was willing to jeopardize her life more than 70 times. Details of Lidia's love for the piano, her brother Ryszard, and her complicated relationship with her mother show her vulnerable side and serve as a reminder that while the genre is historical fiction, the Lidia in the novel is based on a real person, a teenage girl. Written from Poland's perspective on the war, Lidia challenges the Allies' failure to defend her country from Germany—and from Russia—offering readers a different understanding of geopolitics and how those issues are relevant today. The extended climax focuses on the 1944 Warsaw City Uprising; wartime action drives the plot, but characters and dialogue carry the novel's emotional weight. Brief back matter includes photos of Lidia, her family, and the final stories of the people who readers will have come to care about over the course of the novel. VERDICT A riveting, seamless combination of fact and historical fiction; recommended for all middle grade collections.—Marybeth Kozikowski - Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.