Allies by Alan Gratz

How I Heard About It:  I must say that I'm a HUGE Alan Gratz fan.  I have enjoyed all of his novels that I have read in the past.  When the book arrived in the mail from a member of my #bookexpedition Twitter group, I was beyond happy.  I had been hearing so many incredible comments about his newest work of fiction.  Reading it this past week brought me several hours of enjoyment.  


What It Is About - FIVE Things You Need to Know:  
1.  *Gratz takes the reader back to June 6, 1944: one of the biggest events in our world's history.  



2.  *The Allied Forces are coming together to conquer the Germans who have occupied France.  

3.  *The story centers around a young man named Dee who is on a boat heading toward the beaches of France.  He is beyond scared.

4.  *On the coast of France, is a young girl named Samira, who is a Spy working against Germany.  James joins the cast of characters by leaping from a plane and landing in France to begin the fight of his life.  Through in Henry, and you have a group of people all fighting not only for the freedom of the people of France, but the entire human race.

5.  *All the characters come together on the shores of France and each contribute to the fight of their lives.  


What I Thought Of It - Five Observations/Reflections:
1.  *This was an action packed, emotional read and I loved every minute of it.  I mean the subject matter isn't the most "uplifting", but the story is an important one to tell.  Young readers are going to LOVE it.  

2.  *Gratz certainly has a way telling a historical story that will appeal to both young and adult readers.  

3.  *Each chapter read quickly and of course ended with a cliff-hanger that lead me to read more and more.  

4.  *I loved how the story was told from different view points, but all came together toward the exciting conclusion.  

5.  *I've already book talked the novel and have readers ready to read on the release date of October 15, 2019.  


Who Should Read It:
Novels such as this one, are desperately needed in my classroom library.  I don't have that many stories that come directly from our history, tell a solid story, and engage the reader like a Gratz novel. All fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classroom should contain this book.  That being said, it also belongs in middle-school.  Adult readers who have read previous works of Gratz, MUST put this new title on their TBR list.  Happy Reading!


Rating:   4 STARS out of 5 Stars