The Heroes Quartet
3 total works
Heroic actions speak volumes in a powerful middle grade novel based on real WWII events.
Life is not easy for Jewish people in the midst of the Second World War, and for twelve-year-old Dina and her sisters, it gets even harder when their father dies. Their mother must go back to work and despite many objections, the family adjusts to the arrival of their new housekeeper, Nina, who is not Jewish. But Nina’s role changes dramatically when the Nazis invade their small Ukrainian town. Nina sacrifices her own safety to make sure the children she has come to love are kept from the clutches of the Nazis, and Dina comes to depend on her in a way she never imagined she would.
The third novel in Kathy Kacer’s acclaimed Heroes Quartet series, Louder Than Words is based on the true story of one woman’s incredible heroism in the most dangerous of circumstances. It is a another affecting testament to the unsung heroes of World War II who, at great personal risk, saved the lives of strangers.
Kathy Kacer’s second book in her middle grade series about heroic rescues during WWII tells the tale of siblings Helen and Henry, and history’s most famous mime. Desperate to save them from the Nazis, Henry and Helen’s mother makes the harrowing decision to take her children from their home in 1940s Germany and leave them in the care of strangers in France. The brother and sister must hide their Jewish identity to pass for orphans being fostered at a convent in the foreign land. Visits from a local mime become the children’s one source of joy, especially for Henry, whose traumatic experience has left him a selective mute. When an informer gives them up, the children are forced to flee yet again from the Nazis, but this time the local mime—a not yet famous Marcel Marceau—risks everything to try to save the children.
Masters of Silence shows award-winning author Kathy Kacer at the top of her craft, bringing to light the little-known story of Marceau’s heroic work for the French Resistance. Marceau would go on to save hundreds of children from Nazi concentration camps and death during WWII. In characteristic Kacer style, Masters of Silence is dramatic and engaging, and highlights the courage of both those rescuing and the rescued themselves. Wenting Li’s chapter heading illustrations and evocative covers provide the perfect visuals for the series.
History is made one brave act at a time.
Henny has grown up with her father’s boat, the Gerda III, as a home away from home. She loves sailing the waters between Denmark and Sweden, carried along by the salt breeze. But when Nazi rule tightens in Copenhagen, Henny joins the resistance. And when Hitler orders the Gestapo to round up all Jewish citizens, Henny realizes that the Gerda III isn’t just a boat—it’s a means of escape for her Jewish neighbours. Safety and freedom are just across the channel in Sweden—as long as Henny doesn’t get caught.
The fourth book in Kathy Kacer’s Heroes Quartet series, Call Across the Sea brings to life a little-known part of World War II and highlights the unsung acts of heroism that moved history forward.