The Book Spy
Based on the true stories of librarians who worked as spies during WWII, The Book Spy details the mission of Maria Alves to help preserve cultural print artifacts. An expert in microfilm through her work at the New York Public Library, she is sent by the OSS to Portugal to record Axis publications before they are destroyed by the Nazis. But her plans take a more important and dangerous turn when she meets a bookseller, Tiago, who is secretly involved in forging passports for Jewish refugees.
Maria Alves uses her money to help Tiago, and ultimately becomes a double agent; sending planted and false information to Hitler’s inner circle in an effort to mask the true location of the Allied invasion of France. Meanwhile, Tiago’s forgery of passports is discovered, and he is captured by the secret police. After the liberation of France, Maria decides to risk her safety once more, and devises a final plan to try to rescue Tiago. Her success demonstrates the power of one individual in the fight against fascism.
This is Hlad’s fourth book, and there is a wonderful mix of deep historical research and writing craft woven through this story. Maria Alves was, in fact, based upon a real person with slight adaptations to fit the fictional narrative of the story. With no awkward leaps or pauses, The Book Spy is an approachable read that will appeal to middle-school readers and above. This important tale exposes a side of espionage that is often overlooked—the recruitment of ordinary citizens—and it reminds us to never underestimate librarians, guardians of democracy in more ways than one.
