When 16-year-old Helmut Hubner listens to the BBC news on an illegal shortwave radio, he quickly discovers Germany is lying to the people. But when he tries to expose the truth with leaflets, he’s tried for treason. Sentenced to death and waiting in a jail cell, Helmut’s story emerges in a series of flashbacks that show his growth from a naive child caught up in the patriotism of the times to a sensitive and mature young man who thinks for himself. Readers of this stirring historical novel, based on a true story, will be moved by the heroism—and self-sacrifice—of a young activist executed for treason by the Third Reich in 1942.