Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 04/15/2015 *Starred Review* When the Germans threatened to invade Denmark, the Danes capitulated with only token resistance on April 9, 1940, becoming an occupied country. This infuriated 15- and 16-year-old brothers Knud and Jens Pedersen, who formed a group of saboteurs and began cutting German telephone wires and defacing and reorienting directional signs. Just as they were making their presence felt, their family was relocated from Odense to Aalborg, where the two teens started a new group, called The Churchill Club in honor of the legendary British prime minister. Their story is one of bravery in the face of constant danger and of increasingly meaningful acts of sabotage, including stealing weapons and destroying important German assets. How long, the reader wonders, will they be able to elude capture? That question and others are answered in this tale of remarkable bravery and determination. Told in both the author’s voice and that of Knud Pedersen himself (the latter culled from 25 hours of interviews and almost 1,000 e-mail exchanges), this has a compelling immediacy that is enhanced by a generous collection of black-and-white period photographs. An important and unforgettable book that adds a significant chapter to the history of WWII. - Copyright 2015 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 05/01/2015 Gr 9 Up—In April 1940, occupying German forces made Denmark a "protectorate" of the Third Reich. The Danish government accepted the occupation, but a small group of teen boys, angry at their nation's cowardice, formed the secret Churchill Club to resist the Germans and conducted a six-month spree of sabotage and destruction. Incorporating lengthy first-person reminiscences of one of the group's leaders, Knud Pedersen, Hoose describes how the club recruited members, exploited their youth and innocent looks to deceive their parents and the Germans, appropriated weapons, and carried out guerilla-style attacks from their bicycles. Although the boys were eventually arrested and imprisoned, their exploits made them national heroes, shamed many adults, and fueled Danish resistance. After the war, Winston Churchill honored their efforts. The book is well organized, effectively integrating Pedersen's vivid descriptions of his group's motives, determination, and sometimes foolhardy bravery within the larger narrative, which includes information about Denmark, the war, and the boys' families and lives. Sidebars, detailed maps, and period photos supplement the text. Often reading like a thriller, this title puts a human face on the often-overlooked Danish Resistance and complements titles such as Michael Burgan's Refusing to Crumble: The Danish Resistance in World War II (Compass Pt., 2010) and Ellen Levine's Darkness over Denmark: The Danish Resistance and the Rescue of the Jews (Holiday House, 2000). VERDICT A captivating work that will appeal to many readers.—Mary Mueller, Rolla Public Schools, MO - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 07/01/2015 As Germany attacked, occupied, and brokered tenuous neutrality agreements with its European neighbors in World War II, teenage brothers Knud and Jens Pedersen of Denmark felt nothing but disdain for their country’s willingness to accommodate its Nazi occupiers. If adults refused to act, the teens would, and the brothers formed a resistance movement among a small cadre of like-minded classmates, naming it the RAF Club after the British flyers they idolized. Riding bicycles and striking in daylight, they vandalized signage and clipped communication lines while managing to escape identification. A family move put the boys near a strategically important airfield, giving them an opportunity to organize once again, this time with plenty of room to hold meetings, experiment with explosives, and stash stolen weapons. Knud and his colleagues’ escalating activities—now under the name Churchill Club—inevitably caught the attention of their Nazi targets; the boys were arrested, stood trial in a Danish court, and were sentenced to terms in the Danish state prison. Their exploits, now widely (if covertly) published among the Danes, were credited with helping to awaken the national conscience and instigate the formation of more resistance cells. Hoose employs a format similar to that of his award-winning Claudette Colvin (BCCB 2/09), serving here as Knud Pedersen’s interviewer and editor, and supplying segues and insets while allowing Pedersen’s voice to carry the narrative. What an edge-of-your-seat narrative it is—and even more compelling for teen readers, who are the same age as the real-life protagonists. Plenty of black and white photographs document the extent of the damage wrought by resisters. A selected bibliography, chapter notes, and an index are included, as well an epilogue recapping the later years of the RAF Club and Churchill Club members. EB - Copyright 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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