In the month of February I had finished the book Project 1065 by Alan Gratz, the book is about a thirteen year old Irish boy and his family that are spy’s for the Allies to defeat Adolf Hitler. Michael the thirteen year old boy, wore a uniform of the Hitter Youth which he called it the “Germany’s version of the Boy Scouts” because he was a Nazi even though he hated it. Michael’s father was an Irish ambassador to Germany and has been stationed to Berlin. Michael says that Berlin has changed in six years from when they arrived in 1937 and now it was 1943. Berlin had been a wonderful place when they first arrived people had faces full of smiles and laughter but then the wonderful place of Berlin was gone the war started and all of the smiles and laughter on peoples faces were gone.
The truck stopped at a dirt road a half an hour outside the city, all around them was farmland and a barn. It was an obvious place to hide, Michael and the Hitler Youth were trying to find a British pilot. Michael needed to find him if he didn’t find the pilot he would be a dead man. Michael started searching the barn, the barn was two stories and that was the place he haven’t searched but he is scared of heights. Michael’s legs were shaking and then said “Hello” and “are you up here, I am Irish. I’m here to help you” in English. He waited and waited, then nothing. Michael’s head became a helium balloon and the world spun and fell over the side because he was scared. At the last second his friend named Fritz grabbed him by the shirt and wrestled him back to the edge. Fritz and Michael cleared the barn but when Michael walked out he saw fresh blood. He saw a line of footprints, Michael thought that it must be the pilot. As Michael and his group followed the trial of blood. Michael’s group didn’t know that he was pointing them in the wrong direction. Michael was still a head of the group but then he saw the missing British pilot.
Michael was thinking of a place to hide the British pilot, in the barn. Michael then said “Stay here, My parents will pick you up tonight.” It was dark when they went to pick the pilot up. They were able to find him and ask “what’s your name, son?” Da asked. “Lieutenant Simon Cohen, sir” he said.” Simon was a Jew, taking a Jew into Berlin was a big problem because it was a Jew-free city and the heart of Germany. If Hitler discovered people were hiding Jew’s in their home, they would be sent to a concentration camp. Simon said that the Nazi’s were developing a new plane that does not have propellers it’s called project 1065 Simon said that it’s super fast and can do a lot of damage. When Simon and Michael were talking about project 1065, Fritz told Michael a secret something worth hearing. Fritz pulled out a big blue piece of paper that can change the course of the war, it was a blueprint of project 1065. Michael grabbed a pencil and a piece paper and sketched out everything he could remember from the blueprint for Simon.
Michael went to Fritz’s house to get more information about project 1065 but then he realized that there is twelve more pages of project 1065. Since Fritz didn’t know how to fight they made a deal. Fritz teaches Michael to get rid of his fear of heights and Michael teaches Fritz how to fight. It was for the Hitter Youth and they had to pass the test. Even though Michael hated Hitter and the Nazi’s he did this because he needed to get close enough to those blueprints. After all the tests they announced that O’Shaunessey, Michael was going to be in the Hitler Youth. Fritz smiled and had tears because he had made it.
SS-Obersturmfuhrer Trumbauer told Fritz “I’m putting together a special team,” “And I think you would be a prefect fit.” Then when Michael asked about the team Fritz said that it was a science team but Michael knew that it was a joke. When he got back home his mom, dad and Simon all said that they were obviously up to no good. Michael needed to get the last blueprint because Simon has to leave tomorrow night. The day after Michael went to Fritz’s house, the blueprints weren’t on the wall. On door to the dad’s study was a thick folder, Michael lifted the flap and found the blueprints. Michael had a weird feeling someone was watching him, it was Lina (Fritz’s little sister) in the doorway staring at Michael. Lina didn’t seem to care so Michael tried to memorize the last part and hurried out of the house. Michael gave the pages to Simon, Michael’s mom and dad and thought of a plan to get Simon out of Germany. “When the nightly air raid comes- and it will, as sure as eggs is eggs-you’ll wait until three forty-five in the morning and then make your way to this alleyway, here, were Michael will meet you…Michael, you’ll take him here, to this corner on Friedrichstrasse. That’s where you’ll hand Simon off to one of my agents. You’re to tell the agent, ‘This air raid sounds like the finale to a Wagner opera,’to which he will respond, ‘I prefer Beetthoven’s symphonies, myself. ‘ That’s how you will know he’s our man. If he doesn’t give you the correct pass phrase, move on.” Michael glanced at his watch 3:15 then a trail of fire and smoke, they actually shot down a British plane then Michael looks at his watch again. 3:27. He still had time to kill. A guy on the science team said to Fritz. “How do you expect to kill a scientist if you can’t even shot down a plane?” Then Michael knew what the science team was, it was to kill the scientist. Michael was able to get one of the guys on the science team to spill the beans they tried to kill a Jewish scientist, named Hendrik Goldsmit but two guys named Max and Michael got into a fight when Max was about to attack him he had exploded. With Max out Michael can get on the science team and sabotage the plan.
Michael looked at his watch and it was 3:46, he was late. He ran but when he got to the spot Simon was gone. He didn’t know what to do without Simon then I started to cry out, but a man slapped a hand over my mouth, it was Simon. Michael was trying to get into the science team but noticed that to be on the science team he had to die for Hitler and love him so Simon said “You have to turn me in.” A flashlight clicked on and they saw Simon, Simon was caught. Michael had turn in his parents and Simon. Simon yanked himself free but then shots rang out and Simon fell, he was dead. Since Michael had turned in his parents and Simom he had a spot on team. They were never able to find his parents, they can be anywhere now.
Michael had the project 1065 papers on the side of his body but the guards at the science conference would easily find the papers with one tap of the side of my body. So Michael tried to hide them on a stone wall with a little opening, then a voice asked “What are you doing?” It was Fritz but he didn’t seem to know though. The plan was that there was two suitcases but one of them was a bomb. Michael was able to hide Hendrik Goldsmit and told him that a group of boys have been sent from Germany to kill him. Michael ran for the place he put the papers but weren’t there, it was Fritz but Michael had to get Hendrik Goldsmit out of there so they went on a cable car. Something heavy was on the roof but when Michael went up there Fritz was there on the roof of the cable car and he had the suitcase with the bomb. He had waited for them but he started the timer and he was ready to fight. Fritz’s eyes filled with fear as the suitcase fell off the side of the car into the snow, Fritz and Michael watched the bomb explode down the side of the mountain but Michael was able to hold on and Fritz couldn’t he fell over. Hendrik Goldsmit was safe and Michael was able to find his parents since they were spy’s nobody could know what Michael and his family had done.
My favorite quote from this book is on page 303 “Even though nobody would ever know what I’d done, what my ma and da had done, what Ireland had done, we’d stood up to Hitler and the Nazis with the rest of the Allies.” I like this quote because even though nobody can know what Michael has done in the war he is still happy for being a spy. My favorite character in this book is Michael because he hated to be on Hitlers side, even though he saw Simon die in front of him, he still got up and fought to win. It shows Michael is determined to win the war. To show that Michael is determined I quoted from the book on page 302 “I had just risked my life-and theirs, and sacrificed Simon’s life- to get the plans for Project 1065. To save Professor Goldsmit.” I like this book because all of what Michael had been through at the young age of thirteen he still fought and won.
