For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

I have previously read a couple of books by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Both were aimed at young people, probably more at girls than boys, and well written and interesting. The first one I read, Leap of Faith, as the title suggests, was about a girl finding faith in God, in spite of her parents.

For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy (New York: Delacorte Press, 2003) is the apparently true story of a girl, entering her teens, in France, as World War II develops. The girl's name was Suzanne David. (Wikipedia has a very brief article on her, which seems to be based on the book, not on any external source.)

Suzanne's goal is to become an opera singer, and she achieves that, singing lead roles with the local opera society of Cherbourg, France, before she is sixteen. But her world is collapsing around her. Suzanne and her best friend are at the harbor when the first attack by the Germans strikes their city, and their consciousness. The air bombardment damages buildings, kills people, including a pregnant woman that the two girls knew, and were talking to, who dies in front of them. The best friend draws into some sort of shell -- she never speaks again, throughout the rest of the book, in spite of efforts by doctors, her mother, and Suzanne, to bring her back to normalcy.

The Germans take over Suzanne's house, kicking them out into the street with almost no notice, and little opportunity to remove their belongings. But they, and apparently most of the city, have a strong Catholic faith, which shows in various ways throughout the book. Her father tells her:
". . . our lives belong to the Lord. The Nazis have not taken our work, Suzanne. They have not taken your voice. They have not taken our courage or our faith. We haven't lost anything of value." (p. 46)

Suzanne is recruited by the local doctor, who, it turns out, is in the French Resistance. She carries coded messages to various members of a Resistance cell, never knowing their names, nor they hers, for many months. Finally, she is caught, but, at just that time, the Germans leave for Normandy, to try to repel an anticipated Allied invasion. They have not obtained any information from Suzanne, in spite of over a day of non-violent interrogation. She, and others in the prison, simply walk out, with nothing to prevent them.

The book tells how Suzanne has a problem with her voice, while singing in Paris, before she is arrested by the Germans. She never sings in an opera again. It also says that Suzanne fell in love with an American soldier, and left France to live in Tennessee, where she was living at the time of the writing of the book.

An inspiring story. It should remind those of us who now live in comparative safety and security that these conditions are not guaranteed to be permanent, and we may have to decide what to give up, or whether we should be committed to a fight against some powerful enemy. It is no wonder that this book was named a 2005-6 Junior Book Award winner.

Thanks for reading.

halfway to the Sky, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

I recently posted about Leap of Faith, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Since then, I have read, and liked, her halfway to the Sky. Leap of Faith was about coming to faith in God. I found no mention of worship, or faith, in this book.

I'm giving away much of the plot of this one.

So what is it about? It is about a twelve-year-old girl, trying to get over the death of her older brother from Muscular Dystrophy, and her parents' divorce. Dani tries to run away by hiking the Appalachian Trail. (Her real name is Katahdin. Her brother's was Springer. Her parents met and married on the Trail. Springer Mountain is at the Georgia end, Mt. Katahdin at the Maine end.)

Dani's mother finds her, shortly after the beginning of the Trail in Georgia. Dani has prepared carefully, buying gear, hiking clothing, and food. Her mother has come quickly, without preparation. The mother decides to walk the Trail with Dani. Dani gradually comes to understand her mother, her brother's death, her father, even her father's new wife, and herself. A friend she made early on the trail comes to let her down badly, emotionally. A new friend, an older woman who is a cancer survivor, comes to be valued by both Dani and her mother. Her father helps them both out in unexpected ways.

Because of Dani's mother's work, they cannot walk the whole Trail. However, a person who walks part of the Trail at a time is recognized as a thru-hiker, if they walk the entire Trail, just as much as one who goes the entire way at one time. They plan to walk the next section of the Trail in a year or so.

At the end of the book, Dani has a new half-brother, and agrees to baby-sit him for her stepmother. Dani and her mother sell their house, and move into a cabin closer to the Trail. (They are still in Bristol, TN, which is within easy driving distance of the Trail.)

Bradley seems to be very knowledgable about Trail hiking. The book is divided by days, and each chapter is headed by how far Dani has walked that day, how far she has gone, in total, on the Trail, and the weather. There are a lot of details about dangers and joys in hiking, gear, food, and geography. I did not find this background boring, but quite interesting.

A splendid coming-of-age and family understanding book. (Although Dani hasn't reached 14 years old by the end.)

Thanks for reading. Read Bradley.

Leap of Faith, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Somebody or other on-line suggested that Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's Leap of Faith is a good read for younger readers, and is also excellent about the subject of the title, namely believing in God.

Whoever you are, you were right. For what it's worth, the book's Amazon page currently has five reviews, all of them giving it five stars.

As usual, I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but I will say a couple of things about the book, namely that sixth grader Abigail is put in Catholic school, against her will, and comes to love it, and, eventually, to believe in God for forgiveness. Bradley has written it from the Catholic viewpoint, but the book should appeal to all Christians. She has described an authentic conversion experience, from the viewpoint of the main character, without making it sappy or preachy.

One of the things I like most about Leap of Faith is that it has been marketed to the general public, not to a Christian sub-culture.

Thanks for reading. Read Leap of Faith!