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Scholastic Canada Ltd.
ISBN 0-43995639-0 PBK
200 pages
Ages 10 and up
4 3/16” x 6 ¾”

by Carol Matas

Jesper was just a boy when the Nazis occupied Denmark. But he has grown up quickly. He has seen friends die. He has seen others betrayed. He has learned to fire a rifle, commit an act of sabotage, kill an enemy soldier. Now known only by his code name, Kris, Jesper has become a dangerous fighter for freedom. If he is caught, he will be tortured and killed. He is afraid of dying, but he will never give up.


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Excerpt from JESPER
by Carol Matas

As we drove on through the city, I suppose my strongest emotion was sadness — the kind of deep regret you feel when saying goodbye to those you love; not only the people you love but the places, too. Copenhagen was my home. The city was full of memories. It was dark, I couldn’t see much, but I could tell approximately where we were going. We drove away from downtown and the shops, and the outdoor restaurant where my parents used to take me on sunny Saturday afternoons, where we’d listen to jazz and they’d drink beer; away from downtown and the streets where my friends and I used to walk up and down hoping to bump into girls we liked; into the residential areas of the northern part of the city, past the huge parks, the statues, the houses with their copper roofs turned green with age, the apartment buildings built in the late twenties. I could smell the ocean; the wind was damp, as always, with sea water.

We arrived at Ryvangen and the truck shuddered to a halt. I thought of my family, of Lisa, of Stefan. I hoped they all knew how much I cared for them.

“Heraus! Schnell, schnell!” Were those the last words I was to hear before I died? The soldiers used their rifle butts to shove us out of the truck into a central courtyard with barracks all around and lights shining down from above. We were called by name or by number — I suppose those prisoners who wouldn’t even reveal their code names had been given numbers. When we’d been identified we were marched off in two groups of four, again pushed ahead by rifle butts. We were marched past a barracks house, then down a cobblestone path into a boulevard of trees. At this point our two groups split away from each other.

My group was herded off the main path onto a narrow one surrounded by trees. We were pushed deeper and deeper into the woods until we reached a small clearing, open on the side of the path but with banks of earth built up on the other sides. Four wooden poles were stuck in the ground in front of the far rise. One by one we were lashed to these poles. They didn’t bother to uncuff my hands; they just tied me to the pole by winding the rope around my chest and my legs. Then five soldiers lined up in front of us, machine guns ready. I remember thinking what a beautiful night it was. The trees rose up all around us, but when I looked straight up I could see stars. The branches made a beautiful sound as they rustled and swayed in the wind. I couldn’t help but think what a peaceful spot this was.

One of the soldiers started to call out: “Ready, aim.” I took a deep breath, said a prayer to God to protect those I loved, shut my eyes, held my breath, felt my heart hammering against my chest. No wonder they tied you up. My knees buckled, and I would have dropped to the ground.

“Fire.”

From Jesper. Text copyright © 1989 by Carol Matas.

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"WOW! What a suspenseful book! I liked Jesper better than Lisa, though. I really liked how it gave a small glimpse at what the Nazis thought, too, because all of the WWII books I've read are about the Jewish perspective, so it was cool to see how Fredrick thought. Keep up the amazing work!!! " Ash, Age 13, Ontario, Rating: 8

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