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I Am Canada
Behind Enemy Lines: World War II
"Sam Frederiksen, Nazi-occupied Europe, 1944"--Cover.
216 pages, Hardcover
Published February 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 3, 2012
Reason for Reading: I'm reading every book in this series, I love WWII historical fiction and I've enjoyed other books by the author.
Another fantastic book in this series. Scholastic.ca is keeping this series in top-form by (so far) only using well-known literary award-winning writers of children's literature. By the list of authors included one can tell the quality of writing is going to be top-notch. Carol Matas writes various genres but she is most well known for her Holocaust historical fiction and this book can be added to the list. I thoroughly enjoyed the story.
Though the topic was known to me, this is the story of 168 British Commonwealth Airmen who were captured by the Germans and sent to the death camp Buchenwald Concentration Camp and only days before their scheduled extermination were they then taken to a POW camp. This is a powerful story, based on real life true events, though the characters included are fictional Matas holds no punches when describing the pure evilness behind Hitler and his vision and the atrocities carried out by those under his command, especially at the Concentration camps. Graphic to a point but suitable for the mature 10+ age range without venturing into a YA book. Though teens will enjoy the story as well.
I was familiar with this story but this series of books always manages to teach me something new in each and every single book. I hadn't known about Canada's refusal to take in Jews during the war, nor about Denmark's extraordinarily brave response of non-compliance to the German occupiers. Other smaller pieces of information were like new found trivia for me and I enjoyed the history learnt from this gripping, dark, horrendous story of what people are capable of doing to each other, but also of what people are capable of doing *for* each other and how some can rise to the occasion even under the most severe conditions. A great boy's book!
Another fantastic book in this series. Scholastic.ca is keeping this series in top-form by (so far) only using well-known literary award-winning writers of children's literature. By the list of authors included one can tell the quality of writing is going to be top-notch. Carol Matas writes various genres but she is most well known for her Holocaust historical fiction and this book can be added to the list. I thoroughly enjoyed the story.
Though the topic was known to me, this is the story of 168 British Commonwealth Airmen who were captured by the Germans and sent to the death camp Buchenwald Concentration Camp and only days before their scheduled extermination were they then taken to a POW camp. This is a powerful story, based on real life true events, though the characters included are fictional Matas holds no punches when describing the pure evilness behind Hitler and his vision and the atrocities carried out by those under his command, especially at the Concentration camps. Graphic to a point but suitable for the mature 10+ age range without venturing into a YA book. Though teens will enjoy the story as well.
I was familiar with this story but this series of books always manages to teach me something new in each and every single book. I hadn't known about Canada's refusal to take in Jews during the war, nor about Denmark's extraordinarily brave response of non-compliance to the German occupiers. Other smaller pieces of information were like new found trivia for me and I enjoyed the history learnt from this gripping, dark, horrendous story of what people are capable of doing to each other, but also of what people are capable of doing *for* each other and how some can rise to the occasion even under the most severe conditions. A great boy's book!
Read
December 30, 2021I was happily surprised by this book. I've read others in this series and was disappointed by their poor writing quality but this one was interesting and unusually well-written. I often find that books about WWII published for school children by Scholastic or Usborne tend to omit the difficult details about what happened during the holocaust. However this book did a good job of treating difficult subject matter with sensitivity while still presenting the facts for the reader.
May 28, 2018
A powerful story about the 168 allied airmen wrongly imprisoned in Buchenwald, a story I did not knows before reading this book. Sometimes the book is graphic, which may not be suitable for younger readers.
November 5, 2019
I love this book, It has an amazing story line about a young man named Sam Fredrickson.
His world war II plane has been shot down, and he must use his training to survive with his friend Bill,
READ IT NOW!
His world war II plane has been shot down, and he must use his training to survive with his friend Bill,
READ IT NOW!
June 1, 2020
This is a great book for explaining the horrors of World War II through the eyes of Sam Frederiksen. There are some graphic details and there are some photos at the end of the book that are disturbing so I would recommend this for older children.
October 13, 2017
Only partially read this one because my son was reading it for a project, but he thoroughly enjoyed it.
June 17, 2022
Of all the books in the series, this one is the most difficult to read due to its subject matter. A few of the photos in the historical note may also be triggering to some readers.
December 28, 2023
A simple but resonate story for one young RCAF gunner shot down over France in 1944 and his trials in survival until the Allies rescued prisoners in June 1945.
Want to Read
February 12, 2026Week #1 GoodRead Reviews
What help me choose this book is the cover and the summary on the back
I found that the cover is very interesting because I like reading books about war and the book cover had war on it and so I thought it would be intresting. And I also read the summary on the back and i found the story is really interesting and fun to read.
Week #2 GoodRead Reviews
Sam Frederiksen is the main character of my book so far. Sam is a young Canadian military airman during World War 2. Sam is a brave and fearless guy. He was on a mission then his plane got shot down so he had to survive behind enemy lines. Sam is motivated to stay alive behind enemy lines.
Week #3 GoodRead Reviews
Sam wants to survive behind enemy lines and make it back home safely. But there are going to be obstacles on the way like being spotted by an enemy, having no food to survive, and a dangerous surrounding. Same can overcome the problem by being extra careful with his move, being quiet and sneaky.
Week #4 GoodRead Reviews
Something that had happened in the world that relates to this book is during the Russia and Ukraine war. Like both of those countries were fighting eachothers with ground assualt and air assualt and people trying to survive. I think part of the books that relate to it is people trying to survive behind enemy lines. They are similar because both of them were at war at somepoint.
Week #5 GoodRead Reviews
Based on what I know, I think that Sam would make it back home safely. The ending i think that would happen is Sam gets rescued by a helicopter or a boat. What led me to my conlusions is an act of bravery and survival instinct.
Week #6 GoodRead Reviews
A disturbing scene in the book happens in the concentration camp. The author uses the sense of smell by describing how dirty it is and the bad stench around the prisoners. This makes the place feel really real and shocking. The author does this to show how inhumane the camp is and to help the reader understand how horrible it was for the people there.
What help me choose this book is the cover and the summary on the back
I found that the cover is very interesting because I like reading books about war and the book cover had war on it and so I thought it would be intresting. And I also read the summary on the back and i found the story is really interesting and fun to read.
Week #2 GoodRead Reviews
Sam Frederiksen is the main character of my book so far. Sam is a young Canadian military airman during World War 2. Sam is a brave and fearless guy. He was on a mission then his plane got shot down so he had to survive behind enemy lines. Sam is motivated to stay alive behind enemy lines.
Week #3 GoodRead Reviews
Sam wants to survive behind enemy lines and make it back home safely. But there are going to be obstacles on the way like being spotted by an enemy, having no food to survive, and a dangerous surrounding. Same can overcome the problem by being extra careful with his move, being quiet and sneaky.
Week #4 GoodRead Reviews
Something that had happened in the world that relates to this book is during the Russia and Ukraine war. Like both of those countries were fighting eachothers with ground assualt and air assualt and people trying to survive. I think part of the books that relate to it is people trying to survive behind enemy lines. They are similar because both of them were at war at somepoint.
Week #5 GoodRead Reviews
Based on what I know, I think that Sam would make it back home safely. The ending i think that would happen is Sam gets rescued by a helicopter or a boat. What led me to my conlusions is an act of bravery and survival instinct.
Week #6 GoodRead Reviews
A disturbing scene in the book happens in the concentration camp. The author uses the sense of smell by describing how dirty it is and the bad stench around the prisoners. This makes the place feel really real and shocking. The author does this to show how inhumane the camp is and to help the reader understand how horrible it was for the people there.
April 5, 2012
This book was absoultely horrific and pulled no punches when it came to describing WW2 and (espeically)the Holocaust. Matas captured the horror and evilness perfectly. The scenes from insdie the camp will give me nightmares. I haven't been this disturbed by a (apparently) children's book in possibly ever.
August 7, 2013
This book was absolutely great, describing the horror of war and the holocaust.
But I would have liked to have a greater introduction, like which squadron did Sam come from.
That would have been wonderful, but overall this was a amazing book.
But is this book really for children? I found it relatively scary...
But I would have liked to have a greater introduction, like which squadron did Sam come from.
That would have been wonderful, but overall this was a amazing book.
But is this book really for children? I found it relatively scary...
October 16, 2025
9.5/10
Such a quick and fascinating read. I couldn't stop and finsiehd it in one day. I loved it. The characters felt real to me and the author did well to protry them accurately. For me it got me more invested in learning about history as I already have an interest in it. And hearing what happened during the war, stories like really interest me.
Such a quick and fascinating read. I couldn't stop and finsiehd it in one day. I loved it. The characters felt real to me and the author did well to protry them accurately. For me it got me more invested in learning about history as I already have an interest in it. And hearing what happened during the war, stories like really interest me.
April 8, 2014
Last night I caught my 10 year old reluctant reader, reading this book after bedtime by the dim light coming from his window. I've rarely been happier. A million thank you's to the author and creators of this series of books.
March 16, 2012
good book
December 22, 2012
Good at the beginning but it got less exciting near the middle and end of the book.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews