My Friend the Enemy

by Dan Smith

Overview

Peter feels compelled to help a wounded German pilot, but he doesn't want to be a traitor--especially not to his father, who is off fighting the Nazis. A moving story about the moral dilemmas of war.

Summer 1941: For Peter, the war is a long way away, being fought by his father and thousands of other British soldiers against the faceless threat of Nazism. But war comes frighteningly close to home one night when a German jet is shot down over the neighboring woods. With his feisty new friend Kim, Peter rushes to the crash site to see if there's anything he can salvage. What he finds instead is a German airman. The enemy. Seriously wounded and in need of aid...Continuing in the tradition of thought-provoking literature about the Second World War, Dan Smith's MY FRIEND THE ENEMY is a thrilling adventure that also personalizes the moral dilemmas faced by the children left behind on the home front.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545665438
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/26/2014
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	772,190
Lexile:	740L (what's this?)
File size:	10 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Growing up, Dan Smith moved with his family through Africa, Asia, and South America. He now lives in Newcastle, England, with his wife and two children. He is the author of books for both adults and children, four of which have been published by Chicken House. Find out more about the author at www.dansmithsbooks.com.

Read an Excerpt

From MY FRIEND THE ENEMYI picked up the pistol and started to crawl toward the trees.Kim grabbed my shirt. "Don't."I pulled her hand away and pushed to a crouch, creeping right into the edge of the woods. Once I'd passed the first trunks of hazel and oak, I stood up and took soft steps forward...creeping deeper into the trees, coming closer to the barbed-wire fence.And then I saw him.Highlighted by a sliver of moonlight that cut through the leaves above, I saw a man, sitting back against one of the fence posts.I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at him.A stick snapped, making me spin around to find Kim standing just behind me."Who is it?" she asked."I don't know," I said, turning back to look at the immobile figure."Is he asleep? Or dead?"I was mesmerized by him. My whole body had gone cold with fear. My stomach tingled, my hands trembled, my muscles tightened.And then he spoke -- "Bitte" -- and he put his arm up as if to protect his face. "Bitte."

Editorial Reviews

07/01/2014
Gr 6 Up—Twelve-year-old Peter lives just outside a small town in England during World War II and is feeling the effects: rations are tight, tensions are high, and many of the men are on the front lines of the battle. A German plane crashes in a field near Peter's home, and the town is thrown into a frenzy when it is discovered that the German soldier inside the aircraft escaped death by parachuting into the nearby woods. Peter and his friend Kim are exploring in the forest when they come upon the soldier. Seeing that he is just a scared young man, the two friends decide not to turn him in, and instead they find him a safe place to stay and help him recover from his wounds. As expected, Peter and Kim cannot hide their friend for long, and they must deal with the consequences when he is discovered. Filled with action and tense situations, this story will keep readers engaged from its explosive beginning to its dramatic ending; lovers of historical fiction will especially appreciate this interesting take on life on the homefront during World War II. Although Peter and Kim have an emotional understanding that seems beyond their years, their struggles will remind readers to look for the humanity in everyone, even in those considered enemies.—Sarah Reid, Broome County Public Library, Binghamton, NY

School Library Journal