Max in the Land of Lies: A Tale of World War II
CCBC Review:
Picking up where Max in the House of Spies left off, 12-year-old Max has parachuted into Nazi Germany as a spy for the British government in 1940. His official mission is to infiltrate the Funkhaus, stronghold of Nazi radio and propaganda. The mission of his heart, forbidden by his Uncle Ewen, who works for British naval intelligence, is to find his parents, whom he left behind in Berlin when he escaped on the Jewish Kindertransport. The official plan works better than Max could have hoped. Befriending lonely Freddie, the son of popular radio personality Hans Fritzsche, proves easy, and it isn’t long before Max’s genius has impressed Fritzsche and Nazi leaders at the Funkhaus. Max’s determination to find his parents gets assistance from a surprising source, but what he discovers is devastating—the most disheartening of the many upsetting things he witnesses and learns. The Nazis are brutal, but the capitulation of the German people to that brutality is unsettling, while Britain’s own global history, as the Nazis point out, is far from unblemished. Max’s unexpected, genuine friendship with Freddie is a bright, tender spot, but Max must battle his own fear at almost every turn and acknowledge the uncomfortable truth of his own ability to lash out in violence. The presence of Stein and Berg, the dybbuk and kobold, respectively, that sit on Max’s shoulders, takes an unexpected turn in a tense tale that builds to a dangerous escape and final revelations. ©2026 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: 9-13
Age Range:
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Death and Dying
Friendship
Historical Fiction
Holocaust
Jewish People
Politics and Political Systems
Spies and Intrigue
Survival
Trauma
Truth and Lies
World War II
Diversity subject:
Jewish
Publishers:
Dutton, Penguin Random House
Publish Year: 2025
Pages: 341
ISBN: 9780593112113
CCBC Location: Fiction, Gidwitz