When Peter's parents are killed, he is sent to an orphanage in Warsaw. Then German soldiers take him away to be measured and assessed. They decide that Peter is racially valuable. He is Volksdeutscher: of German blood. With his blond hair, blue eyes, and acceptably proportioned head, he looks just like the boy on the Hitler-Jugend poster. Someone important will want to adopt Peter. They do. Professor Kaltenbach is very pleased to welcome such a fine Aryan specimen to his household. People will be envious. But Peter is not quite the specimen they think. He is forming his own ideas about what he is seeing, what he is told. Peter doesn't want to be a Nazi, and so he is going to take a very dangerous risk. The most dangerous risk he could possibly choose to take in Berlin in 1942.

 

This book was recognised in the Children's Book of the Year category by the Independent Booksellers Award. It was recognised in the Teen category by the Booktrust Book Award. The Book Trust Best Book Awards with Amazon Kindle, which took place in 2014, aimed to unearth the very best childrens books the UK has to offer, and to honour authors and illustrators who continue Britains proud heritage of storytelling.

There are 304 pages in this book. This book was published 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC .

Paul Dowswell trained as a historian and teacher. He is now a freelance writer and editor.