The First-Person Account of One of the Youngest Members of the French Resistance

Josette, 10, is living a tranquil existence in Brittany when the Nazis invade Saint Malo. Her father, who goes to the front, winds up in the free zone in the south of France. Her mother and siblings cross all of France in order to be reunited with him near Perpignan. Daily life is difficult, but the Torrents are a close-knit family, and they stay that way. Yet Josette’s father is mysteriously absent for longer and longer stretches of time, and when he is home, he often locks himself into an empty room in the house.

Shortly before her twelfth birthday, Josette learns that he is a Resistance fighter and he needs her help. So begins a double life: behind the façade of a mischievous middle-school student hides one of the youngest members of the French resistance. Who could suspect such an innocent-looking pre-teen?   In 1944, her father is arrested and deported.

The captivating and moving tale of a young girl was in no way predestined to play a decisive role in some of the darkest pages of history.