Projekt 1065

Gratz, Alan. Projekt 1065. 2016. 320p. ISBN 978-0-545-88016-9. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Michael O’Shaunessey’s parents are the representatives of the Republic of Ireland in Berlin. The family arrived in Berlin at the height of Nazi power, in 1937, and witnessed the beginning of the Second World War. Now in 1943, the Germans have been handed a setback at Stalingrad and are in full withdrawal from the Eastern Front. But in Berlin, people don’t hear the bad news. They live their lives in fear of the Gestapo and of the Hitler Youth, groups of fanatic Nazis who report everyone’s move to the authorities.

Now 13, Michael has grown up in this paranoid environment. He has learned perfect German, attends German school, and is even a member of the Hitler Youth. But that’s not his true identity. In fact, he is a spy for the Allies, along with his parents. They transmit crucial information on German factories, plans, and war efforts through the diplomatic pouch back to Dublin, before that information is passed on to the British.

When a British bomber is shot down, Michael’s Hitler Youth unit is tasked with finding the pilot so he can be arrested and interrogated. Michael, however, wants to find him and rescue him. The first one to locate the pilot, Michael manages to distract the group of youth and, at night, his father and him rescue Simon. The pilot, who broke an ankle and has severe wounds, must be hidden in the Irish embassy. Simon tells them that he was on a mission to take pictures of a secret airfield where the Germans are testing their new weapon, a plane not propulsed by propellers but by turbojets. Code-named Projekt 1065, this plan is revolutionary. It flies twice as fast as regular planes, and it could literally win the war for Germany. Michael discovers that the father of one of the youths in his group actually works on this plane, and he sees blueprints. It is now up to Michael to salvage Simon’s mission and get these plans in Allies hands. But one mistake could cost him everything.