A new Alan Gratz novel is always a major event! From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Refugee and Heroes comes this heart-pounding, high-stakes take on the 1936 Berlin Olympics, also known as the "Nazi Olympics."
All that glitters is not gold...
Evie can't believe she's made it to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. After fleeing the Oklahoma Dust Bowl for golden California, Evie's family is still poor and reeling from devastating losses. She could have never guessed that the sport she took up to escape her reality would lead to this.
Now, she's competing in gymnastics on Team USA, with some of the greatest athletes in the world like track and field star Jesse Owens.
But all is not as it seems in Berlin, a city now ruled by the Nazis and their tyrannical leader, Adolf Hitler.
And Evie has secrets of her own. That shiny gold medal isn't the only gold she has her eye on. With two other Olympic athletes, who each have their own reasons for despising the Nazis, Evie has been recruited for the biggest heist of the century by a mysterious criminal mastermind, who intends on robbing the Nazis right under their noses. If everything works out, Evie can go home rich beyond belief; her mother can stop scrubbing laundry to make ends meet, and they'll finally be able to afford the medicine her sister needs so desperately.
Evie didn't count on being stuck with an inquisitive Youth Services Host, Heinz, who is determined to follow her every step while concealing his own deadly secret. And she didn't count on discovering the truth behind all of the glittering fanfare of the Olympics: the Nazis are harshly persecuting Jewish people and preparing for a devastating war.
When the time comes, Evie is forced to face the reality around her, and the horrors that the Nazis can't quite hide. She must learn how to see the truth beneath the mirage and choose between saving her family or fighting to save strangers in a foreign land under deadly threat.
Praise for Heroes:
A New York Times Bestseller
* "Gratz does his usual splendid job of creating the visceral drama of battle alongside fully realized characters. He handles the theme of heroism well, while not straying into the didactic, and is especially good at depicting the enduring friendship of the two boys as, together, they experience the dat that will live in infamy." --Booklist, starred review
"Vivid...fast-paced. The humanity of the characters and the on-the-ground perspective evoke sympathy for those who perished in the attack... A propulsivewartime story with an earnest protagonist at its heart." --Kirkus Reviews
"{A} gripping, well-researched account of courage and friendship... powerful." --Publishers Weekly
Praise for Two Degrees:
A New York Times Bestseller
An ABA Indie Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
A Junior Library Guild selection
A Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Year
"A Hollywood thriller of a book... essential for this moment." --The New York Times
"Gratz renders pulse-pounding evological tales and high-stakes calamity with the brisk pacing of a thriller... gripping {and} timely." --Publishers Weekly
"Gratz plunges his middle schoolers into desperate, life-threatening straits in three wildly dangerous scnearios... delivered with wrenching, dramatic urgency." --Kirkus Reviews
"A seamless, thrilling adventure... important." --Booklist
Praise for Ground Zero:
* "The plot starts at a heart-pounding pace and never relents... In a superbly structured plot, the two protagonists experience similar perils, and both respond with determination and hope... A contemporary history lesson with the uplifting message that humanity's survival depends on us working for, not against, one another. A must have." --School Library Journal, starred review
* "The pace is quick (don't blink or you'll miss something!), its emotions deeply authentic, and the highly visual settings resonate with accuracy. With a moving author's note, pertinent back m
