Max in the land of lies

In 2024's Max in the House of Spies, 13-year-old Jewish German Max was evacuated from Berlin to London via the Kindertransport where he--accompanied by two little, wise-cracking supernatural beings, Berg the kobold and Stein the dybbuk--was taken in by a prominent family and, thanks to his genius with radios, recruited as a spy by British intelligence. In the second volume of this duology, Max returns to Berlin with two missions: infiltrate the Funkhaus, the Nazi center of radio propaganda, and find his missing parents. Gidwitz has managed to add an essential new tale to the canon of WWII fiction, delivering what is at once an engrossing spy-thriller and an appropriately devastating story of a boy coming of age in an impossibly brutal world. As Max enmeshes himself in the Funkhaus, he struggles to make sense of the machinations of Nazi propaganda and the ongoing assault of lies driving the war forward. Several narrative risks--including Berg and Stein (a critical element of emotional support), the on-page appearances of Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler, and a stunning time jump right at Max's emotional climax--pay off tremendously, elevating this from a well-researched piece of entertainment to an exquisite work of craft and a profoundly sensitive guide to the horrors of Nazi Germany. An at-times buoyant, always captivating, and ultimately heartrending masterpiece of middle-grade historical fiction.

Now working for British intelligence after leaving Berlin in the Kindertransport, 12-year-old Max Bretzfeld returns to Nazi Germany on a secret mission. During his ostensible mission--infiltrating the Funkhaus, the hub of Nazi radio and propaganda--Max not only faces continual danger, but also struggles with his conscience and even (briefly) his loyalty as he confronts some uncomfortably close parallels between the rabid racism of the Third Reich and that of both the British Empire and the United States throughout their histories. Max is also harboring a secret: Despite being expressly forbidden to do so by his adopted British uncle, he searches for his parents, only to discover strangers living in his family's apartment. What follows is an absorbing whirl of narrow squeaks and tense, clever exploits, lightened by moments of comfort and comical commentary by Stein and Berg, the dybbuk and kobold spirits perched on Max's shoulders. Gidwitz, who conducted careful research, realistically portrays a large walk-on cast of real Nazis, from Joseph Goebbels to Hitler himself, who explain how they rose to power and how nations can be led by the right narratives: "With these grand stories, we can bind our people together." The cast of fictional ordinary Germans shows how seductive the Nazi promise to "make Germany great again" seemed. This sequel trusts readers with critically relevant insights on necessary vigilance and the human capacity for monstrous behavior. A headlong thriller laced with provocative and topical historical truths. (historical notes, bibliography)(Historical fiction. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.