Backpack, Boy, Berlin: Based on a True Story of World War II Espionage: (An Illustrated Middle Grade Historical Fiction Novel about Courage and Resist

Backpack, Boy, Berlin: Based on a True Story of World War II Espionage: (An Illustrated Middle Grade Historical Fiction Novel about Courage and Resist - Hardcover

$22.79
$22.79
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Backpack, Boy, Berlin: Based on a True Story of World War II Espionage: (An Illustrated Middle Grade Historical Fiction Novel about Courage and Resist
  • Backpack, Boy, Berlin: Based on a True Story of World War II Espionage: (An Illustrated Middle Grade Historical Fiction Novel about Courage and Resist
  • Backpack, Boy, Berlin: Based on a True Story of World War II Espionage: (An Illustrated Middle Grade Historical Fiction Novel about Courage and Resist
Backpack, Boy, Berlin: Based on a True Story of World War II Espionage: (An Illustrated Middle Grade Historical Fiction Novel about Courage and Resist - Hardcover

Backpack, Boy, Berlin: Based on a True Story of World War II Espionage: (An Illustrated Middle Grade Historical Fiction Novel about Courage and Resist - Hardcover

$22.79
$22.79

by Kip Wilson (Author), Matt Schu (Illustrator)

"This story will grab readers' attention quickly and not let go" --Booklist (starred review)

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.

Author Biography

Kip Wilson is the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of White Rose, The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin, and One Last Shot, as well as the editor of the verse anthology All the Love Under the Vast Sky. She has served as the poetry editor at the Young Adult Review Network (YARN) and is now an associate editor at Voyage YA. Backpack, Boy, Berlin is her middle-grade debut. Kip Wilson lives in Boston.

Matt Schu is the illustrator of the Cosmic Collisions series by Dr. Marc J. Kuchner, Cut! How Lotte Reiniger and a Pair of Scissors Revolutionized Animation by C. E. Winters, and My Cat Does Ballet by Robert Heidbreder. He likes drawing trees, rocks, houses, and dark skies. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Number of Pages: 400
Dimensions: 1.3 x 9 x 6.1 IN
Publication Date: November 03, 2026
Accelerated Reader:
Quiz Name: Backpack, Boy, Berlin: Based on a True Story of World War II Espionage
Interest Level: Middle Grades, 4-8
Reading Level: 6.6
Point Value: 5

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