  | Allies Author: Gratz, Alan | |
| Price: $23.08 | ||
Summary:
It is June 6, 1944, D-Day, and Dee Carpenter (true name Dietrich Zimmermann), an underage private in the United States Army, is headed for Omaha Beach, seeking revenge for his uncle, who was arrested by Nazis when Dee was a little boy; meanwhile, Samira Zidano, an eleven-year old French-Algerian girl is looking for the French resistance, desperate to deliver the message that the invasion is about to begin, and get their help in freeing her mother--this is the most important day of the twentieth century, and both children want to fight, and survive.
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| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 5.60 Points: 9.0 Quiz: 503736 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 6-8 Reading Level: 4.70 Points: 15.0 Quiz: 77662 | |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (08/01/19)
Booklist (+) (09/01/19)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/11/19)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 09/01/2019 *Starred Review* Gratz’s (Grenade, 2018) latest novel memorably tells the story of D-Day, the Allied invasion of France, through the eyes of a disparate cast of characters, all of whom are de facto allies. They are 11-year-old Samira, a French Algerian whose mother is a spy; Canadian paratrooper James McKay; British tank driver Bill Richards; African American medic Henry Allen; 13-year-old Monique Marchand; war correspondent Dorothy Powell; and, most significantly, 16-year-old Dee Carpenter and his best friend, Sid Jacobstein. The last two are in the front line of the Omaha Beach invasion, experiencing firsthand the hell that was D-Day. Gratz does a brilliant job of bringing the invasion to visceral life. Noting that D-Day itself was a tremendous victory for the Allies, Gratz acknowledges the taking of Omaha Beach was a near disaster, which saw some 4,500 Allied deaths. Though they are best friends, Dee keeps a closely guarded secret from his Jewish comrade: he is a German whose parents are political refugees. Now Dee is determined to return to Germany to defeat Hitler. This is only one element of dramatic tension that keeps the pages of this novel’s suspenseful account turning. It’s a tour de force of war fiction.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Gratz's best-selling historical fiction doesn't stay on the shelf long; expect the same from his latest. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.
