Sixty Blades of Grass

The bond between a Dutch teenager and her father is tested as the Resistance wages its secret war on the Nazis: “Darkly lyrical . . . An action filled plot.” —Mary Glickman, author of By the Rivers of Babylon

During the Second World War, Rika, a seventeen-year-old Dutch Resistance fighter, paints in fields overlooking the busy rail yards. Hidden in her artwork is information crucial to the Dutch Underground about the concentration camps and Jewish prisoner transports.

But Rika’s covert activities aren’t the only thing on her mind. In these uncertain times, even trusting family is risky. She suspects her father of collaborating with the Germans and is determined to uncover the truth.

Across town, her German-born father is also living a double life. But his desire to keep his daughter safe proves inadequate when he invites a German colonel into his home with terrible consequences . . .

With no one to rely on or turn to, Rika knows her greatest challenge has only just begun as she must fight for her own survival . . .

Inspired by the author’s own family history, this is a riveting, heartrending novel of danger and betrayal that explores what it takes to lay down one’s life for another in the most harrowing of circumstances.