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Booktalking Colorado Full Record:
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Title: |
For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy |
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Author: |
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley |
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Date Published: |
2003 |
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Genre: |
Real Life |
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Grade Level: |
6 - 8 |
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Booktalker: |
Kathy Preller |
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Booktalk:
Most of you know about World War II. You've probably studied it in school, or maybe you've seen some WWII movies; Saving Private Ryan, or Pearl Harbor.
America was really lucky in one way during that war, because other than Pearl Harbor, we didn't have enemy planes flying over our cities, dropping bombs. We didn't have enemy soldiers walking in our streets, or taking our homes. The French did.
Suzanne lived in Cherbourg, France. She went to school, she had a father, mother and two brothers, she had friends. She practiced singing with Madame Marcelle, because Suzanne had dreams of being a great opera singer. And she was very good.
Suzanne and her best friend Yvette left school one day, and ran to the beach to do their homework on a bench in the sun. They greeted Madame Montagne and her little son, Simon. As Suzanne opened her history book, she heard the buzz of planes. Gradually they became louder, until the noise turned into a roar as planes swarmed overhead. Then the beach exploded. Bombs fell all around. Suzanne's arms and legs were lacerated by shrapnel. And when it was over, Madame Montagne lay torn apart in a pool of blood. The horror of that sight left Yvette sick in her mind for the rest of her life.
By the end of the next week, German soldiers and tanks were in the streets of Cherbourg. Soldiers came to Suzanne's house, and threw them all out. Everyone in their neighborhood was thrown out of their house, so the soldiers had places to stay. Then people began disappearing. War is so much more personal when it happens in your neighborhood, in your home, in your room. But how can you fight an army? A few brave people managed to silently fight against the horror that was around them. Suzanne was one of those. This is a true story.
For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
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