Review – Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Historical Fiction
Length: 208 pages
Publisher: Puffin Books
Release Date: October 5, 2006
ISBN-13: 978-0142402245
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed from Son
Rating: 4/5 stars

“In the bleak winter of 19 0, Nazi troops parachuted into Peter Lundstrom’s tiny Norwegian village and held it captive. Nobody thought the Nazis could be defeated—until Uncle Victor told Peter how the children could fool the enemy. It was a dangerous plan. They had to slip past Nazi guards with nine million dollars in gold hidden on their sleds. It meant risking their country’s treasure—and their lives. This classic story of how a group of children outwitted the Nazis and sent the treasure to America has captivated generations of readers.”

My 11yr old son had read this and really enjoyed it. He gave it to me to read. This book holds up well and was very well written. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would; it was an interesting look at a part of WWII you don’t hear much about.

This book details supposed events that took place in Norway in the winter of 1940. Norway was trying to secretly transport its wealth to the USA for safekeeping, while Nazi guards were patrolling the area. The Norwegian resistance supposedly enlisted children to help with this. This book is based on speculated events, not actual recorded events.

The book is short, but the story is well written and engaging. I enjoyed it a lot and read it in maybe 30 min or so.

Overall this was a well done book set in the WWII era about children who helped with the war effort in Norway. I would recommend to children who are interested in history. While this isn’t a non-fiction book, it is based on speculated events that happened during that era.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Goodreads Reading Challenge