White Rose

Based on historical participants in the nonviolent White Rose resistance movement against Hitler, the events in Wilson’s debut unfold in Germany between 1935 and 1943. Sophie Scholl, a non-Jewish German who is 14 in 1935, narrates in candid and absorbing present-tense free verse. One of five siblings, Sophie enjoys a carefree life with family and friends until Hitler begins imposing labor service decrees and arresting teenagers—including her beloved older brother, Hans—for disloyalty to the government. As Hitler’s attacks on the Jewish population and military actions abroad snowball, Sophie is also forced into labor service and grows desperate to act against the injustice. Wilson traces the growing rage and rebellion that drive her into collaboration with Hans and university students to publish and distribute leaflets of resistance to the German public—an offense punishable by death. Occasional entries by a Gestapo investigator pursuing the group create mounting tension, even though the book’s opening scene reveals the outcome of his mission: Sophie’s capture and subsequent trial. Illuminating back matter on the real-life Sophie and the White Rose movement adds additional context to this strong addition to the canon of WWII fiction for young readers. Ages 12–up. Agent: Roseanne Wells, Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency. [em](Apr.) [/em]