The Secret Road Home

My daughter reads this series aloud to her 15 year old brother for part of their home schooling. They both are avid and serious WW2 buffs and highly recommend the whole series. Very well written and with strong substance, get all 3 books and put the history textbooks on the shelf. Real history sticks to the ribs better and develops excellent citizens!

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (5/06) One day, Jack Martin receives a phone call from Maastrich, Germany. Remains of the B-17 Flying Fortress plane that he was flying in World War II have been located and are being pieced together for a WWII museum in Germany. This phone call opens a flood of memories for Jack. Like many American soldiers that returned home from WWII, he had tried to bury those horrific memories. Over sixty years before, Jack's plane had gone down in a field. Jack was severely burned on his legs. A counter-espionage group helped Jack get medical treatment and escape from the Nazi's. The journey home was not easy. Due to his burned legs, Jack walked with a limp that made him easily identifiable and slowed his group down. Along the way, Jack meets some incredible people. He also has to watch as some of them are killed while trying to help him. Through all of Jack's pain and losses he hangs on to his faith. He knows that through divine intervention he was able to survive his injuries and able to cross through two Nazi occupied countries .Jack realizes that "the capacity to have gratitude was shaped by which end of the measuring stick one used." Instead of focusing on the negative aspects of his situation, Jack focused on what he felt that was being provided to him by the hand of God. This is what got him through this horrible time. I really enjoyed this story. Even though it was a fictional account of WWII, it was based on true reports of a woman named Madame Ann Brusselman whose family helped many of the Allied soldiers escape the Nazis. Wise writes so realistically I felt like this was a true story. I kept catching myself holding my breath during the times that Jack was about to be captured. I felt loss and sadness at the death of his friends and allies. The hope and faith that Jack's character holds on to, to help him survive is something that you can relate to if you have overcome and survived a horrible situation. It reminds you of your faith and how to be grateful for what you have. This is an excellent story for people who enjoy stories from the WWII era. I also would highly recommend it to history students. So much more learning about history can be gained and retained from reading this story rather than just studying a dry historical textbook.