Alan Hlad > Quotes

“Be an egg, Susan thought. One could be soft with fear inside, but hard as slate outside.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“It wasn't a miracle. You believed. And made it happen.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“Too bad the Nazis aren't vampires, Ollie thought. At least with vampires, they could be deterred with holy water, crosses, and cloves of garlic. But with Nazis, we need antiaircraft guns, Hurricanes, and Spitfires. Ollie glanced back at the lofts. And maybe pigeons.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“Of wartime London:

It looked as if London was being cremated, one piece at a time.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“Ollie watched the cemetery disappear in the distance and wondered if there would be enough trees in all of Britain to build the coffins.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“He wondered how long it took to recover from losing a loved one. One year? Ten years? A lifetime?”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“We thought it was important that Americans, as well as the rest of world, know about what was taking place in Europe.”
― Alan Hlad, The Book Spy

“Bruno about Celeste: "She’d survived by becoming a mistress to a German officer, who is now dead. Her aunt, one of thousands of Lille women rounded up by the German military to farm the French countryside, was taken from her home...But I have committed war crimes.”
― Alan Hlad, A Light Beyond the Trenches

“For centuries, animals have been relied upon during times of war.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“I adore their cooing, which, in my opinion, is even more soothing than a cat's purr.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“Anna appreciated their efforts to compliment her on the food, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the dwindling food supplies, due to the British naval blockade, and the rumors that many Germans would die from starvation before spring. Famine has become a weapon.”
― Alan Hlad, A Light Beyond the Trenches

“Up there, I feel like a bird- even better, a pigeon.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“If people were more like dogs, maybe the world would be blind to bigotry.”
― Alan Hlad, A Light Beyond the Trenches

“London was being cremated,”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“One could be soft with fear inside, but hard as slate outside.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“The entire beach fortification was a deception. All of the pillboxes, guns, and soldiers were fake. The only thing that was real, it appeared, was the razor wire.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“Grain was scarce and bakers resorted to using potato flour to make the black war bread called kriegsbrot, which often contained various additives, including corn, lentil, and sawdust. She wondered, although briefly, if Germany would be able to survive the British naval blockade, which forced the country to be self-reliant with producing food.”
― Alan Hlad, A Light Beyond the Trenches

“We already train shepherds to be sentries, scouts, messengers, and ambulance dogs,” he said. “I see no reason why we cannot train dogs in great numbers to guide blinded veterans.”
― Alan Hlad, A Light Beyond the Trenches

“Although he’d heard the rumors of malnutrition, he had been detached from the daily sight of starvation in Germany. The food shortages were not entirely caused by the Allied blockade, Bruno believed. The empire was also to blame. After all, the army had seized most of the horses, and they conscripted the bulk of the agricultural workforce. Additionally, farming fertilizers were scarce due to diverting nitrogen to produce explosives. I should have paid more heed to Anna’s letters about the dwindling supply of rations. I could have brought more food with me from Lille.”
― Alan Hlad, A Light Beyond the Trenches

“Despite the destruction of the city above them, the Londoners were doing their best to go about their lives, if not for themselves, for the children.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“It's incredible what one can accomplish with the power of a library card.”
― Alan Hlad, The Book Spy

“Anna’s stomach grumbled as she prepared a pot of substitute coffee made from tree bark.”
― Alan Hlad, A Light Beyond the Trenches

“I challenge you to name another animal that can find their way home from hundreds of miles away.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“These pigeons are going to help us win the war.”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“The American public has been called upon to fight, Mr. President. And I have no doubt that—in the end—we’ll win this war and liberate the world from fascist tyranny.”
― Alan Hlad, The Book Spy

“Get off your bahookies!”
― Alan Hlad, The Long Flight Home

“«Si la gente se pareciera más a los perros, quizá el mundo sería ciego a la intolerancia.»”
― Alan Hlad, La luz de la esperanza

“A few months ago, twenty thousand women and girls were rounded up by the Germans and relocated to rural areas of occupied France.”
Oh, no. A wave of repugnance flooded his body.
“They’re coerced to perform farm labor to feed your country.” She took a jagged breath. “Many of the women were dragged away, kicking and screaming, by soldiers with bayonets.”
He ran a hand through his hair, attempting to comprehend the enormity of the mass roundup. The British naval blockade is depleting Germany’s food supply, and now we’re resorting to forced labor to feed our people. Despite the dire circumstances, he detested his country’s solution to nourish a starving population.”
― Alan Hlad, A Light Beyond the Trenches

“Wilhelmina’s work at the factory required her to fill shell cases with explosive. She endured daily exposure to hazardous chemicals without adequate protection. In addition to migraines, she and the munitions women were plagued with chronic colds, anemia, and nausea.”
― Alan Hlad, A Light Beyond the Trenches