The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

This historical fiction book is about Helmuth, a mormon german boy during World War II. It starts during the election of Hitler as chancelor and follows Helmuth as he is forced to join the Hitler youth. he struggles with his feelings on patriotism and his moral beliefs of right and wrong. As more and more of his rights are taken away, Helmuth finds himself secretly listening to the BBC and realizing how much his country is hiding information from them. He sees the transformation of his friends and church members that are 'interogated' by the SS. He starts writing pamphlets about what is really going on and what he hears on the BBC. With the help of two of his school mates, they distribute these pamphlets around the city in telephone booths and other public areas that they don't have to personally hand them to people. Later he recruits the help of a fellow collegue to get the pamphlets mass produced and even tries to get them translated and sent to France. Unfortunately they are all caught and tried for their crimes. Most get sentenced to jail time, however, Helmuth is tried as an adult for treason and sentenced to death.

Helmuth and the characters in this book are real people and this is based off a real story. It doesn't have any chapters, but goes back and forth between real time at the jail waiting for his execution date and reminising about the events that lead up to his death. It is a good book and meant for kids grades 6-9. The author does tie in quite a bit Helmuth's beliefs and the church to emphasize why Helmuth feels this pull for moral freedom and supporting his country. At the end of the book you are able to see pictures of the characters and get a breif overview of what happened to all of them after Helmuth died.