Westfallen: What if you had to stop Germany winning WWII? A thrilling race-against-time adventure

By Author / Illustrator

Ann Brashares, Ben Brashares

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Bloomsbury Children's Books

ISBN

9781526685490

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

27-03-2025

Synopsis

We didn't mean to change the past. Now we have to win the war. A stunning 'what if?' story by a bestselling author about two groups of 12-year-olds - one in World War Two, one in the present day.

Henry, Frances and Lukas are neighbours, and they used to be best friends. But in middle school Frances got emo, Lukas went to private school and Henry just felt left behind. When they come together again for the funeral of a pet gerbil, the three ex-friends make a mind-blowing discovery: a radio, buried in Henry's garden, that allows them to talk to another group of three kids in the same town in New Jersey, USA ... in the same backyard ... 80 years in the past.

The kids in 1944 want to know about the future: are there laser guns? Flying cars? Jetpacks, at least? Most of all, they want to know about the outcome of the world war that their dad and brothers are fighting in. Though Henry is cautious - he's seen movies about what happens when you disrupt the fabric of time - soon the present-day kids are sending their new friends on a mission to rescue a doomed sweet shop. What harm could that do? But one change leads to another, and the six friends accidentally change the course of history in the worst way imaginable: the Nazis winning the war. Now it's up to the friends to change it back.

Co-author Ann Brashares is a New York Times bestseller for The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, here writing with her fellow children's author and brother Ben for the first time.

Authors Ann Brashares and Ben Brashares tell ReadingZone what inspired Westfallen

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Reviews

Sue

Although Henry, Frances and Lukas are no longer best friends, they meet up for the funeral of their pet gerbil. Whilst digging the grave, they make an amazing discovery - a radio which allows them to communicate with another group of three children who live in the very same place, only 80 years in the past.

Sharing information about their lives, Henry and his friends learn that the sweet shop which Alice, Lawrence and Artie go to in 1944 burns down so to prevent this accident, they get their new friends to take action to save it. However, they quickly learn that the slightest alteration can have far reaching consequences and as one change leads to another, they find they have changed history in the worst way possible.

I wasn't sure that I would enjoy this one - but how wrong I was! Westfallen is a compelling and addictive read which I could not put down. The story moves between events in the past and present, building tension and suspense as Henry, Frances and Lukas find themselves trapped in a real-life nightmare.

As the story opens, Henry, Lukas and Frances, childhood friends, have drifted apart with Henry feeling left behind by the others. Sporty Lukas has moved on with the popular crowd and Frances has dyed her hair and found new friends. The excitement of their discovery and its subsequent events bring them back together again, rekindling the bond they had previously.

As the children are plunged into the horror of a future where Nazi ideology is ruling America, Lukas, who is Jewish, finds himself suddenly doing menial labour tasks, rejected by those who in his other life were his friends and Henry, who is biracial, is labelled a 'mischling' and assigned to 'work learning'. The story captures a chilling sense of constant fear as those not considered Aryan suffer under the brutal regime.

The story offers plenty to think about. It poses questions about what people become under certain conditions, how evil flourishes and how people can be destroyed. It is far from comfortable reading in places, challenging readers to think 'what if...?' and reflect on how every choice and decision has a consequence. An excellent read! ‎

416 pages / Reviewed by Sue Wilsher, teacher