Winter's Bullet

Gr 6–8—With the war almost over, 15-year-old Tygo is trapped between two opposing forces: the Nazis, with whom he collaborates as a matter of survival, and the Dutch Resistance, who seemingly want him for the price on his head. Oberst Kruger, head of the Gestapo's "Plunder Squad" and Tygo's commanding officer, is desperately searching for an invaluably rare red diamond, with which he will secure his safe passage and escape to Argentina. As they search an abandoned villa where the jewel is believed to be concealed, Tygo discovers a girl hiding out, with ties to the coveted gem. Meanwhile, with the Allied Liberation fast approaching, Hitler tries his last-ditch effort at winning the war—a top-secret weapon capable of destroying New York City that brings everything to an explosive head. Osborne's writing reads more like a Hollywood blockbuster film than a historical novel. While he creates an interesting blend of both historical figures and fictitious characters, they are, with slight exception in the protagonist, one-dimensional at best. The author manages to portray a few historical events but with a heavily fictitious slant that is both far-fetched and exaggerated. Indeed, the action never stops, but then neither does the sensationalism. Even Argentina's involvement and Germany's nuclear capabilities, aspects of World War II seldom represented in children's fiction, are not enough to save this title.