Review of "Resist: The Story of D-Day," by Alan Gratz

Review of

Resist: The Story of D-Day, by Alan Gratz ISBN 9781338621808


Five out of five stars

The D-Day invasion from a different perspective

 There have been many fiction and non-fiction books written about D-Day, from the perspective of commanders, soldiers on the ground and civilians in France. However, this one is written from a quite different perspective. Samira is a young girl living in Villers-Bocage France in early June of 1944. She is a spy for the French resistance and of Algerian descent. Her mother came to France to study law in the hope that she would have a high position in Algeria once the war was over and France granted Algerian independence.  Samira hates the Germans, but not as much as her dog Cyrano.

It is before dawn on June 6 and the greatest sea-based invasion of all time is about to be launched. Samira’s mother has been taken by the Germans and Samira knows that the Germans execute their prisoners at dawn. She is desperate to find and rescue her mother and this is about her exploits in doing that. The invasion begins with planes flying overhead, gliders landing and parachutes in the sky, including some dummies named Rupert. Through all of this, Samira remains determined to complete her mission.

 Creating a story about the D-Day invasion and telling it from the perspective of a young person of Algerian extraction was an excellent choice of perspective. Generally lost in the stories about the war in Europe is the fact that there were many people in the German-occupied countries that were from other places. Having the Algerians being just as patriotic as the natives is a great plot device.