Max in the Land of Lies: A Tale of World War II

Gr 3-7–Picking up where the thrilling Max in the House of Spies left off, this sequel finds 13-year-old Max, along with his kobbold Berg and his dybbuk Stein (incorporeal companions that only he can see or hear), having just parachuted into Nazi Germany as a British spy. Max must find his way to Berlin and fulfill his mission to infiltrate Germany’s headquarters of radio communication and propaganda. He also has a personal, forbidden mission of his own: to find his Jewish parents. Chapter by hair-raising chapter, Max finds himself in situations few could escape from and yet, through wits and sheer determination, he persists. Amid all the action and suspense, Gidwitz creates moments for characters to consider war, empires, colonization, and the essential question: “Why do they hate us?” Max infiltrates the highest levels of the propaganda machine and encounters historical figures and horrific situations along the way, but his strike against the Nazis and their “Big Lie” is a moment worth savoring as the boy’s astounding bravery and intelligence is matched by his big heart. The novel is made all the more outstanding by its depiction of authentically complicated German characters. That is not to say that the evil of the Nazi regime is undersold, but the plot addresses the complexity of living in a time of political terror and the difficult choices people must make to survive. Planted within a thrilling spy tale is a message about human nature that rings as true in current times as it might have in the 1940s, without an ounce of preachiness.