Resist

Description

Resist

Tom Palmer

(Barrington Stoke)

Edda sees what the Nazi occupation of Velp is doing to her mother, aunt and grandfather. Not only is the family desperate for food, but the loss of her uncle, alongside the top- secret work of her brother, is heart-wrenching. It’s why Edda’s agreed to join the Resistance efforts of Dr t’Hooft . This means dancing at a secret ‘dark evening’ in support of the Resistance and carrying secret messages and papers. Then again the family mourn the capture of Edda’s other brother by the Nazis, alongside longing for the Allied forces to rescue them. They see ration allowances slashed, and families, like their friends from Arnhem, expelled from their homes.

Tom Palmer builds upon Audrey Hepburn’s Netherlands’ wartime experiences in Resist. It seems she did work for the Dutch Resistance, including taking messages to stranded Allied airmen, Then again, she and her family were starved to the point of grinding tulip bulbs for flour. What’s more, by considering her life and experiences, readers are able to feel ‘Edda’s’ fear, uncertainty and loathing of her situation.

Like other books by this author, including Arctic Star. the storytelling in Resist is efficient  and empathetic. We feel the hunger that makes ‘it feel like every molecule in her body [is] crying out for something to eat’. Then again, we are drawn into listening for sounds of hope and German defeat too. Bookwagon recommends Resist strongly to our middle grade readers.