Rescue

Rescue
A World War II story of espionage and intrigue, as one girl races to save her father and aid the French resistance. Six hundred and fifty-seven days ago, Meg Kenyon's father left their home in France to fight for the Allies in World War II, and that was the last time Meg saw him. Recently, she heard he was being held prisoner by the Nazis, a terrible sentence from which Meg fears he'll never return. All she has left of him are the codes he placed in a jar for her to decipher, an affectionate game the two of them shared. But the codes are running low, and soon there'll be nothing left of Papa for Meg to hold on to at all. Suddenly, an impossible chance to save her father falls into Meg's lap. After following a trail of blood in the snow, Meggie finds an injured British spy hiding in her grandmother's barn. Captain Stewart tells her that a family of German refugees must be guided across Nazi-occupied France to neutral Spain, whereupon one of them has promised to free Meg's father. Captain Stewart was meant to take that family on their journey, but too injured to complete the task himself, he offers it to Meg, along with a final code from Papa to help complete the mission -- perhaps the most important, and most difficult, riddle she's received yet. As the Nazis flood Meg's village in fierce pursuit, she accepts the duty and begins the trek across France. Leading strangers through treacherous territory, Meg faces danger and uncertainty at every turn, all the while struggling to crack her father's code. The message, as she unravels it, reveals secrets costly enough to risk the mission and even her own life. Can Meg solve the puzzle, rescue the family, and save her father?

Being a big fan of Jennifer A. Nielsen, I had to read “Rescue.” This story of a young French girl in WWII who was working with the French Resistance did not disappoint. It was one of those reads where you just want to keep reading to see what will happen next and/or will they get out of this predicament or not. You won’t know who you can trust until the very end.

This is definitely an MG/YA read that young readers, as well as older ones who are looking for an interesting historical fiction story will enjoy. It’s another example of history that needs to be remembered and I’m glad Nielsen did just that in writing this story. After all, though it was monumental, there’s a lot more to WWII than D-Day and we all need to remember just how much everyone was affected by WWII, military and civilians. We will never know all the heroic actions that were done to win WWII, but it’s reassuring to be reminded that they were done.

Rescue
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