The Pact

by Amanda West Lewis

Peter Gruber is a young boy living in Hamburg, Germany in 1939. His resourcefulness is the only thing keeping him and his mother from crushing poverty, until world events destroy everything he has ever known. Leaving his childhood behind, Peter now faces a different kind of horror – pledging allegiance in an elite training camp for SS officers in Nazi Germany. Inspired by a true story, The Pact sheds light on indoctrination, propaganda, insidious racism and a child’s basic sense of morality.

352 pages, Paperback

Published September 13, 2016

About the author

Amanda West Lewis has combined careers as a writer, theatre director, calligrapher, book artist and instructor. She has spent her career working in the arts and in arts education.

Amanda is the author of seven books for young people. Her latest novel, The Pact, sets friendship, poverty and family amidst the culture of indoctrination and propaganda in Nazi Germany. Her previous novel, September 17, is a fictionalized account of the sinking of the S.S. City of Benares during the Second World War. September 17 was nominated for the Silver Birch Award, the Red Cedar Award, and the Violet Downey IODE Award.

Amanda is a member of the Writers Guild of Canada, CANSCAIP, and The Great Canadian Theatre Company's Playwright's Network. She lives with her husband, writer Tim Wynne-Jones, outside of Perth Ontario. They have 3 grown children who are a constant source of joy and inspiration.

Reviews

[Clare Brick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book! I read a lot of historical fiction, particularly WW2 era, and I had never read anything from this perspective before. The time spanned from when Peter was 10 to age 16. I could not imagine all that he and his peers had to face and endure, and had to continue to remind myself that he was a child! And he was one of pure German heritage, not like his friends and neighbors who had Jewish blood. I highly recommend this captivating read! I look forward to reading more from this author!

[Mary-Esther Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dispassionate like Peter, the story’s repressed character. The end notes are more enlightening. Nevertheless, this will make one think and worry.

[Jan Andrews]

I liked this book a lot. It was compelling and convincing to the point where I found myself dreaming about it at night. I could see the devastation of the cities, bombed to ruins, so clearly. I felt the numbness of Peter, the central character. It seemed to me very real that all he could do was isolate himself from his emotions so he could keep on doing what needed to be done.

The Pact takes us deep into enemy territory. It makes us question what would be our own responses in such enormity of events. Say...say we were actually living in Hitler's Germany, would we....would we....?

I hope The Pact gets into a lot of young readers hands.

[Colette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a semi-biographical narrative set in WWII about a boy named Peter and describes the events of his life growing up in Nazi Germany from the age of 10 to the time he was 15 when the war ended. It effectively shows how Hitler radicalized the youth of the time and the devastating effects of the war on Germany. Middle grade students interested in war history will enjoy the well paced plot and descriptive passages and will identify with the typical boy behavior as they grow up.