Returning to material she uncovered while researching Hitler Youth, Bartoletti offers a fictionalized biography of Helmuth Hübener, a Hamburg teenager who, in February 1942, was arrested for writing and distributing leaflets that denounced Hitler. Almost nine months later, on October 27, at the age of 17, Hübener was executed for treason. Opening her story on Hübener's last day, Bartoletti frames the work as third-person flashbacks, casting over the narrative a terrible sense of doom even as she escalates the tension. She does an excellent job of conveying the political climate surrounding Hitler's ascent to power, seamlessly integrating a complex range of socioeconomic conditions into her absorbing drama of Helmuth and his fatherless family. The author also convincingly shows how Helmuth originally embraces Hitler. His disillusionment seems to come a little too easily; American readers may wonder why Helmuth's reactions were not more common. But that question resolves itself as the author exposes the chilling gap between her own admiration for her subject and reflections, discussed in an afterword, from those who knew Helmuth, as in this comment from his older brother: "He should have known better than that.... A sixteen-year-old boy cannot change the government." Ages 11-up. (Feb.)
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Gr 6-9- In the newly formed Third Reich, Hitler's initial political doctrine is filled with hopeful solutions for a country plagued with unemployment, poverty, and a post-World War I feeling of defeat. Propaganda and promises quickly turn to oppressive new laws including the required participation in the Hitler Youth. Helmuth Hübener enters the program and is at once impressed with the bravado, shiny uniforms, boots, and patriotic fever sweeping the country. But his Mormon-based teachings trigger questions in his mind about the reality behind the regime's invasions of neighboring countries, mistreatment of Jewish citizens, and closely controlled media. He creates an underground newsletter with information gathered from BBC reports using an illegal shortwave radio. As he secretly distributes the flyers throughout the town, his boldness encourages him to gather several accomplices resulting in his arrest, trial, and execution. The novel opens as he is on death row, and the story is told as a series of flashbacks. Helmuth is portrayed as a brave, outspoken voice amid a family of acquiescing brothers, mother, and new SS stepfather. Based on a real person, the novel includes black-and-white photos of Hübener and his family. Bartoletti offers another perspective on the Holocaust, demonstrating that even if the effort proves unsuccessful, the courage and convictions of a minority should be motivation to speak the truth rather than remain silent. It's a message that must be continually emphasized as a lasting legacy of the Holocaust.-Rita Soltan, Youth Services Consultant, West Bloomfield, MI
Spun off from interviews with survivors as well as published sources, Bartoletti crafts a novel closely based on the true story of Helmuth Hubener, a German teen who stood up to the Nazis and paid with his life. Written in present-tense flashbacks, the tale traces the development of Helmuth's outlook from childhood delight in playing with toy soldiers within the safe confines of his closely knit Mormon family to ill-concealed fury as Hitler's rise brings mounting violence against Jews, suppression of books and foreign news and a general climate of fear and mistrust. He resorts at last to anonymous pamphleteering, and his eventual capture brings imprisonment, beatings and a trial at which he manages to save two of his friends from death penalties. A long author's note and a suite of photos cap this inspiring tale of conscience and courage. Pair it with Bartoletti's Hitler Youth: Growing up in Hitler's Shadow (2005). (Historical fiction. 11-13)
Awards and Praise for The Boy Who Dared:A YALSA Best Book for Young AdultsA Booklist Best Book for Young AdultsA Booklist Editors' ChoiceA 2009 Notable Book for a Global SocietyAn NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People* "The teen's perspective makes this a particularly gripping way to personalize the history, and even those unfamiliar with the background... will be enthralled by the story of one boy's heroic resistance in the worst of times... This is an important title for the Holocaust curriculum." — Booklist, starred review"[An] inspiring tale of conscience and courage." — Kirkus Reviews"Bartoletti offers another perspective on the Holocaust, demonstrating that even if the effort proves unsuccessful, the courage and convictions of a minority should be motivation to speak the truth rather than remain silent. It's a message that must be continually emphasized as a lasting legacy of the Holocaust." — School Library Journal"A stirring tale of one young man's resistance to a government he came to regard as evil... The character development, based on research and interviews with those who knew Helmuth, is solid, and the author excels in creating a sense of immediacy in the setting. Her Nazi Germany is a place that is hauntingly familiar, enveloped in a government-fed sense of fear in this welcome addition to a body of literature begun with Anne Frank's diary." — VOYA "Bartoletti accomplishes the seemingly impossible task of building dramatic tension in a story whose outcome we know from page one. Helmuth's questioning voice lives on in the pages of this compelling work." — Cooperative Children's Book Center, recommended
Seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hübener, a German schoolboy, awaits execution for treason by the Gestapo. As he sits in his jail cell, he reflects on his childhood. Just 7 in 1935, he was caught up in the growing patriotism, full of promise and hope. However, the ensuing years find him sickened by the Nazis' oppression of the Jews, their invasions of neighboring countries, and their suppression of the truth. The story unfolds in the third person, which David Ackroyd narrates with an American accent. He deftly switches to a German accent during dialogue, adding richness to the listening experience. Ackroyd convincingly conveys Helmuth's courage as he dares to speak out for the truth. An author's note giving back story about the real Helmuth Hübener and a Third Reich timeline are included. L.A.C. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
