Safe

Description

Safe

Vanessa Harbour

(Firefly Press)

Despite the Countess’s best efforts Kizzy is not suited to being a lady. In fact her experiences before meeting Jakob, and then with him, have inspired her to want more than this. What’s more, her heart is with Pluto, with the horses that she, Jakob and Heinz helped take Flight from the Nazis.

Therefore, she is keen to accept Heinz’s plan that she joins Jacob on a mission to rescue rare breeds of Czechoslovakian horses from Russian troops. However both she and Jakob mistrust their adult companion, who’d betrayed them to the Nazis on an earlier collaboration. Should they believe his assertion to Heinz? Is this plan Safe?

Then again, what of their destination? A schloss to the Kinsky family? What are the sounds that the children hear from the deserted barn? Furthermore, how many horses are they expected to lead to safety- really?

Vanessa Harbour creates the drama, courage and uncertainty of a broken time realistically. We appreciate Kizzy’s fears, responsibility and grief, alongside agonising over the plight of the discovery she and Jakob make. Then we’re on tenterhooks as Kizzy and Jakob plot the return of the horses across enemy lines.

Safe is a stirring story that we recommend highly to our curious, emotionally aware, empathetic middle grade readers.