*SPOILERS*
Title:The Spy with the Red Balloon
Author: Katherine Locke
Publisher: Albert Whitman and Company
Pages: 368
Date(s) Read: 6/2-6/15/18
Synopsis: (from GoodReads)
Siblings Ilse and Wolf hide a deep secret in their blood: with it, they can work magic.
The government just found out.Blackmailed into service during World War II, Ilse lends her
magic to America’s newest weapon, the atom bomb, while Wolf goes behind enemy lines to
sabotage
Germany’s nuclear program. It’s a dangerous mission, but if Hitler were to create the bomb
first, the results would be catastrophic.
Rating: 4 /5
Loved this addition to The Balloonmakers Series that takes place before GIRL.
SPY starts in the United States, in New York, New York with brother and sister Isle
and Wolf during WWII. SPY then follows Isle to Tennessee and Wolf to England and
then Germany.
Isle and Wolf Klein have magic abilities like those we see from Kai’s sister Sabina
in GIRL. They do their best to keep it a secret, only them and their parents; but one day
in Central Park they notice someone watching them. That evening they meet a man at
their house; Colonel Mann is who he introduces himself as and their parents leave the
room. Colonel Mann requires their abilities for help with the war. A war Wolf has
tried so hard to avoid unlike his best friend Max. After their meeting with the Colonel,
Isle and Wolf prepare to leave their home, as they have no choice. Isle ends up in
Oak Ridge, Tennessee with three other girls, Stella, Lola and Polly, and a young man
named George Steele. Isle, with the help of her new company, are to use their abilities
to secretly transport and drop an atomic bomb once it is built.
Wolf, however is in England, learning how to jump out of a plane flown by none
other than his best friend Max. On his first day in England he meets Lily, the leader
of their task force, along with Topher MacKenzie who is really good at blowing stuff up.
Their first task is to find and locate and bomb German work sites to slow down their
progress on the bomb. However that doesn’t go as planned; Max gets hurt when their
plane gets shot down and Wolf refuses to leave him behind. After the plane goes down
Topher is nowhere to be found. They find a house to use as a safe house temporarily
and leave Max there once they find their first location with the help of equations Isle
sent to Wolf by balloon. When they return to the safe house they find Nazi’s out front
with Max at gunpoint. Wolf rushes in to help Max, while Lily rushes in to help Wolf.
The three of them are captured by Nazi’s and put into prison. While in prison Wolf meets
a familiar face; who us readers met in GIRL. Ashasher makes an appearance in Wolf’s
cell and tries to convince Wolf to come with him and use his magic for different reasons.
Wolf refuses to leave Max and Lily.
While Wolf is doing his job overseas, Isle is dealing with missing papers and a spy.
Isle and the other girls set a trap for th spy and it works. Their trap leads them to a cabin in
the woods full of magic equations, their missing papers and a notebook full of notes
regarding it all. The spy however is not there, Isle follows the spy via balloon to Germany,
with her brother and a man he calls Topher; whole she knows as George Steele.
After finding out that George was the traitor, he helps Isle write balloons because
she refuses to stand idly by as Nazi’s march a group of Jewish prisoners dub the road.
From the cover of some bushes, Isle and George write six balloons to send some of the
prisoners somewhere safe.
Throughout SPY, Wolf and Isle experience forbidden love, independence,
helplessness, loss, and learning what their blood is capable of, and what they themselves
are capable of. The brother and sister relationship Isle and Wolf have is truly special
and Katherine captures it in words wonderfully. SPY also contains very accurate
descriptions of some historical events; just with a touch of magic. I am hopeful that
there will be more in the Balloonmakers world soon. And remember;
Don’t Panic. Focus.
