"In the midst of the Spanish Civil War, 12-year-old ani unexpectedly
gets drawn into a network of underground rebels working to thwart
Franco's efforts to destroy the Basque people's way of life. . . .
Exciting." -- SLJ
Ani believes she is just an insignificant whisper of a girl in a loud
world. This is what her mother tells her anyway. Her father made her
feel important, but he's been off fighting in Spain's Civil War, and his
voice in her head is fading. Then she meets Mathias. His family has just
moved to Guernica and he's as far from a whisper as a boy can be. Ani
thinks Mathias is more like lightning. Mathias's father is part of a spy
network and soon Ani finds herself helping him deliver messages to other
members of the underground. For the first time, she's making a
difference in the world.
And then her world explodes. The sleepy little market town of Guernica
is destroyed by Nazi bombers. In one afternoon Ani loses her city, her
home, her mother. But in helping the other survivors, Ani gains a sense
of her own strength. And she and Mathias make plans to fight back in
their own unique way.