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Backpack, Boy, Berlin: Based on a True Story of World War II Espionage
Not yet published
Expected 3 Nov 26This is the true story of a boy risking it all to deliver secret anti-Nazi messages while navigating dark times and changing friendships in World War II–era Berlin. The haunting and immersive verse novel comes from critically acclaimed author Kip Wilson.
It’s 1938, and ten-year-old Don Heath Jr. moves with his mother and American diplomat father to Berlin, Germany. This move is different—now they are under the nose of the Führer Adolf Hitler. Over the next three years, Don falls in love with this diamond of a city, makes heart-deep friends, and watches the country descend into a propaganda-fueled state of terror and danger. He fears for his Jewish friends, their families torn apart. He becomes increasingly wary of his friend Mole, whose actions seem at odds with the Hitler Youth uniform he wears—for now. When Don’s tutor, Mildred Harnack, gives him a banned book with a secret note inside, he jumps at the chance to become a covert courier between his parents and the resistance—a perilous prospect in a city where anyone could be an enemy. This remarkable true story delves into the fear, hope, anger, and paranoia of World War II Berlin. Back matter includes an author’s note with more information about the people in the story, a glossary, and a selected bibliography.
It’s 1938, and ten-year-old Don Heath Jr. moves with his mother and American diplomat father to Berlin, Germany. This move is different—now they are under the nose of the Führer Adolf Hitler. Over the next three years, Don falls in love with this diamond of a city, makes heart-deep friends, and watches the country descend into a propaganda-fueled state of terror and danger. He fears for his Jewish friends, their families torn apart. He becomes increasingly wary of his friend Mole, whose actions seem at odds with the Hitler Youth uniform he wears—for now. When Don’s tutor, Mildred Harnack, gives him a banned book with a secret note inside, he jumps at the chance to become a covert courier between his parents and the resistance—a perilous prospect in a city where anyone could be an enemy. This remarkable true story delves into the fear, hope, anger, and paranoia of World War II Berlin. Back matter includes an author’s note with more information about the people in the story, a glossary, and a selected bibliography.
400 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication November 3, 2026
5 people want to read
About the author
Kip Wilson
21 books248 followersKip Wilson is the critically acclaimed YA author of verse novels White Rose (Versify, 2019), The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin (Versify, 2022), and One Last Shot (Versify, 2023). Awards for her books include the Malka Penn Award and the Julia Ward Howe Award, and her books have been named a Massachusetts Book Honor title, an Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award finalist, and a Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist. Her next project, All the Love Under the Vast Sky, is a YA anthology of stories in verse (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2025). Kip holds a Ph.D. in German Literature and is an enthusiastic high school library worker. Find her online at kipwilsonwrites.com and on Instagram @kipwilsonwrites.
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