For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy »

A teenager transforms from a schoolgirl to a spy in this true story of heroism in wartime.

Suzanne David's everyday life is suddenly shattered in 1940 when a bomb drops on the main square of her hometown, the city of Cherbourg, France, killing a pregnant neighbor right in front of her. Until then the war had seemed far away, not something that would touch her or her teenage friends. Now Suzanne's family is kicked out onto the street as German soldiers take over their house as a barracks.

Suzanne clings to the one thing she really loves—singing. Her voice is so amazing that she is training to become an opera singer. As Suzanne travels around for rehearsals, cosume fittings, or lessons, she learns more about what the Nazis are doing and about the people who are "disappearing." Her travels are noticed by someone else, an organizer of the French Resistance. Soon Suzanne is a secret courier, a spy fighting for France and risking her own life for freedom.

Claire Rosser - KLIATT

To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, May 2003: Bradley has written fiction based closely on the life of Suzanne David Hall, who shared her stories with the author. The novel begins in 1940 when Suzanne is 13 and it ends when the Allies liberate her town of Cherbourg, France in June 1944. Suzanne is studying to be an opera singer, and as soon as she finishes school when she is 15, she starts working in the local opera company, singing the leading roles. She naturally has a lot of appointments around town and in nearby towns, and her doctor recruits her as a spy, carrying messages in the midst of the Nazi occupation. She knows that if she is caught, she will be killed. The strength and discipline she needs for her career help her in the work as a spy. Details of her family life under the occupation, her singing career, the solace she finds in music during utmost stress—these details make the story a reality for the reader. Therefore, the fear she experiences working as a spy, the lies she must tell to her family and friends to cover her activities, and the suspense inherent in the story make this a thrilling reading experience. We are filled with admiration for Suzanne's strength and commitment. Frequent French expressions and details from the operas and their arias make this novel even more exotic for American YAs. The town of Cherbourg is laid out in the readers' minds—from the first scenes of Germans bombing the beach at the time of the British troops retreating in 1940 to the liberation of the town on D-Day. In an epilogue, we learn that Suzanne married an American soldier at the end of 1945 and emigrated to America, where she raised her family in Tennessee. Apowerful story. KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2003, Random House, Dell Laurel-Leaf, 181p., Ages 12 to 18.