About This Book

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults 

Watch the Video Book Trailer

Just as the Nazis are rising to power, Helmut Hubener, a German schoolboy, is caught up in all the swashbuckling bravado of his time.

The handsome storm trooper uniforms, the shiny jackboots and armbands, the rousing patriotism - all serve to draw him into this bright new world full of promise and hope.

In the beginning, Helmuth's patriotism is unwavering.  But every day the rights of people all over Germany are diminishing.  Jews are threatened and their businesses are being destroyed, the truth has been censored, and danger lurks everywhere.  Anybody can turn on you.  The world has turned upside down: Patriotism means denouncing others, love means to hate, and speaking out means treason.  Silence becomes everyone's guilty secret.  How much longer can Helmuth keep silent?

Now Helmuth sits in a German prison, awaiting his precarious fate.  Told in flashback with breathtaking suspense, this homage to an extraordinary real life hero magnificently explores one person's  responsibility to humanity, freedom, and truth.

* "She does an excellent job of conveying the political climate surrounding Hitler's ascent to power, seamlessly integrating a complex range of socioeconomic conditions into her absorbing drama of Helmuth..." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "...a particularly gripping way to personalize the history... This is an important title for the Holocaust curriculum." — Booklist, starred review

"...tale of conscience and courage." — Kirkus Reviews

About the Authors or Illustrators

Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Susan Campbell Bartoletti's HITLER YOUTH was named a Newbery Honor Book, and BLACK POTATOES: THE STORY OF THE GREAT IRISH FAMINE, 1845-1850 was awarded the Robert F. Sibert medal.

Read more >