Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz

Max in the House of Spies begins the story of an 11-year-old German boy who believes he has what it takes to be a secret agent for the allies.

Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II by Adam Gidwitz. Dutton, 2024, 298 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 11-15

Life has become harder for Max Bretzfeld and his parents since the Nazis took over Germany. But since Kristallnacht it’s become intolerable. His father’s watch repair business is shuttered and his mother can’t get work as a laundress. Still, the Bretzfelds’ decision to send their son to London on the Kindertransport comes as a shock to said son. Max is a genius tinkerer, able to assemble a radio out of trash—surely he could figure out a way to mitigate whatever was coming to Germany’s Jews? All his pleas fall on deaf ears, and as the story begins he’s on a ferry bound for Southampton.

With two traveling companions, as it happens—thumb-sized spirits only he can hear, who go by the names Berg and Stein. The former is a kobold: a figure of German folklore known in English as a goblin. The latter is a dybbuk, or evil spirit in Jewish tradition. These two are more mischievous than malevolent, and the reason for their attachment to Max is unclear, even to them. God probably has something to do with it, but “God never really explained anything to us. Just . . . made us and sent us on our way.”

In any case, Max is stuck with them all the way to London and his introduction to London and his host family, the Montagus. To his surprise, the family is Jewish, and Mr. Montagu’s two brothers are even more surprising. Uncle Ivor is a doctrinaire communist and Uncle Ewan is . . . a spy. Not that he announces it, but Max isn’t blind. Once he recognizes an access to British Intelligence, he’s determined to present himself as a plausible agent so he can return to Berlin and save his parents.

His training takes up the rest of the story, which ends on an almost literal cliffhanger. (I didn’t recognize this was a duology, so that was a shock. Should have read the entire book flap.) The author’s way with words makes this an interesting read, and Max’s character is on an interesting arc. Though highly intelligent, he doesn’t understand the implications of espionage, especially as it pertains to his character. “You have to have a strange relationship with truth to live a fiction,” Uncle Ewen advises him. “You have to believe the fiction you’re living . . . Except. You cannot lose the truth.” I suspect there will be conflicts between truth and fiction in the next book.

Considerations:

• There are several instances of mild profanity, and 2-3 misuses of God’s name.
• Some of the violence against Jews in Berlin may be upsetting to sensitive readers.

Overall Rating: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 3.5
• Artistic/literary value: 4.5

Read more about our ratings here.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Review: With some of the same considerations, we liked Gitwitz’s Newbery-honor-winning medieval novel, The Inquisitor’s Tale.
• Reviews: The true story of Elizebeth Smith, code-breaker extraordinaire, is masterfully told in The Woman All Spies Fear. And for real-life espionage today, see The Big Book of Spy Stuff.

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