The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler

"Intertwines two stories: the insidious rise of Hitler with his creed of hatred and Bonhoeffer's development as an ethical thinker who believed that radical action was necessary, but that killing was a sin." --New York Times

The dramatic true story of German pastor and Nazi resistor Dietrich Bonhoeffer comes to life in this award-winning graphic novel from John Hendrix.

Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party is gaining strength and becoming more menacing every day. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor upset by the complacency of the German church toward the suffering around it, forms a breakaway church to speak out against the established political and religious authorities. When the Nazis outlaw the church, he escapes as a fugitive.

Struggling to reconcile his faith and the teachings of the Bible with the Nazi Party's evil agenda, Bonhoeffer decides that Hitler must be stopped by any means possible! In his signature style of interwoven handwritten text and art, John Hendrix tells the true story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor who makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to help free the German people from oppression during World War II.

Young readers will be thrilled by the near-miss attempts to kill Hitler. The plots involve deception, gut-wrenching timing, and concealed explosives: a bomb in a gift package, a rigged docent conducting a tour of captured weaponry, and an explosive briefcase snuck into the heart of Hitler's fortress. But Hendrix makes the bold and surprising decision to tell it as a tale of faith. It makes this book unique, one as much about morality as it is about the attempted murder of one of history's most heinous leaders.

Author: John Hendrix
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Published: 09/18/2018
Pages: 176
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.40w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781419732652
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 7.6
Point Value: 5
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 197623 / Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler


Award: Yalsa Award for Excellence in Non-Fiction for Young Adults - Finalist


Review Citation(s):
Horn Book Magazine 11/01/2018 pg. 100
Booklist 06/01/2018 pg. 72
School Library Journal 07/01/2018 pg. 96
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 09/01/2018
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2019 - Superior,Well Above Average

About the Author

John Hendrix is the illustrator of Nurse, Soldier, Spy and author/illustrator of Shootingat theStars, among others. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri.