A Spy on the Home Front

During a two-week stay at Grammy and Granpa's farm in the summer of 1944, Molly spends lots of time with her good friend Anna Schulz, the daughter of German immigrants who live on a neighboring farm. When Aunt Eleanor, now a WASP pilot, stops for a visit while ferrying a warplane from one airbase to another, a security check uncovers anti-American propaganda stashed aboard her plane. The FBI interrogates Eleanor but quickly zeroes in on another suspect--Anna's 17-year-old brother Max, who works at the local airfield. Though Anna knows her brother is loyal to America, she fears he'll be sent away to an interment camp as an enemy alien, as other German-American friends have been. Molly and Anna decide that the only way to clear Max is to show more find the person who is smuggling propaganda. With lots of daring and a little luck, the girls manage to finger the real culprit…but they discover that that may not be enough to save Max. In a poignant ending, Molly realizes that wartime, even on the home front, changes friends and family forever. show less

(3.5 / 5)

Having just read the main Molly series, I read the first Molly mystery to follow it up. It wasn't bad, but it didn't really have the style and heart of the main series. No one from the main series, besides Molly herself, is in this book, and Molly's summer friend Anna doesn't really have much of a personality. I do like the historical information regarding German-Americans placed in internment camps, the pro-Nazi Silver Legion, and the WASPs, of which Molly's aunt is one. This book also has a "Looking Back" section like the main series books, which goes into detail more on each of these points. The mystery in the book, which involved tracking down a Silver Legion member who was sending anti-American propaganda flyers out via show more planes at a local airfield, was not terribly complicated, but it was a decent vehicle for the history, keeping the book from feeling dry. Molly's strategic and slightly manipulative personality from the main series does continue here, making it a decent follow-up for anyone who has read the main series, though it could be read as a stand-alone too. show less

This book is particularly interesting because we see a side to WWII totally left out of the Molly books. Molly finally sees that the home front is more than patriotic fervor. There are groups in America who want to subvert the American cause. America also punished Japanese and German citizens for their ancestry, during WWII, by putting them in internment camps. Molly takes some big risks at her grandparents' farm and at the local airfield solving this one, but they pay off.

It is August, 1944. America is involved in World War II. Molly (age 10) is visiting her grandparents' farm. But Molly and her friend Anna Schulz find that the war at home is much more than Victory gardens and collecting cans. Anna's brother, Max, is falsely arrested. Another German family is placed in an internment camp.To prove Max's innocence and solve this mystery, Molly and Anna must lie and mislead their elders. This historical mystery provides a German glossary and a vivid description of security and life on the home front during WWII.

Molly is enjoying visit to Grammy and Grandpa’s peaceful farm in the summer of 1944. But when Aunt Eleanor, an army pilot, flies if for a visit, she unknowingly brings trouble—and a frightened mystery. Molly looks for clues, but she discovers something else…that even on the home front, wartime changes friends and family forever