Author: Deborah Hopkinson
Series: No
Genres: History, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult, War
Short summary of the story: LR and Bertie have jobs to do in wartime London. Bertie is a air-raid messenger and LR (Little Roo) finds people who are trapped in bombed out buildings. The story starts out Friday, February 18,1944, Dusk - London. Be a spy? That wasn't on Bertie's to-do list - all he wants to do is stay out of trouble. Attending school (unless there are air-raid sirens, in which case he reports to where he is dispatched for his air-raid messenger job) and otherwise just plain surviving in London is a full time occupation. However, in the midst of his duties, he accidentally knocks over a person, finds a mysterious notebook and somehow finds himself in the middle of a full-blown mystery. Intermixed in the story are the actual details (and opportunities to solve) cipher codes which our heroes and heroines are dealing with. While he gets together with friends, to figure out what is happening, Bertie also has a choice to make about his own, personal, life and family. Torn apart by war -- there is a chance that his parents and brother and he can be together again as a family . A lot of this, though, depends on Bertie and him forgiving himself of something he had done.
Good points / bad points: Oddly enough, this story set in war-torn London, is a delight to read. Yes, the descriptions of what happens when buildings are bombed are accurate. The food shortages are real. The 'feel' is real. This book, though, tells of the rising of people to circumstances, to overcoming what appears terrible, and the potential of greatness in all of us.
Note: I did not like reading how the people of London were told to kill their pets because of the food shortages.
Goodreads has this about How I Became a Spy: A Mystery of WWII London
Bertie Bradshaw never set out to become a spy. He never imagined traipsing around war-torn London, solving ciphers, practicing surveillance, and searching for a traitor to the Allied forces. He certainly never expected that a strong-willed American girl named Eleanor would play Watson to his Holmes (or Holmes to his Watson, depending on who you ask).
But when a young woman goes missing, leaving behind a coded notebook, Bertie is determined to solve the mystery. With the help of Eleanor and his friend David, a Jewish refugee--and, of course, his trusty pup, Little Roo--Bertie must decipher the notebook in time to stop a double agent from spilling the biggest secret of all to the Nazis.
From the author of The Great Trouble, this suspenseful WWII adventure reminds us that times of war call for bravery, brains and teamwork from even the most unlikely heroes.
