Grenade Read online

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  And once again, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to everyone who works behind the scenes at Scholastic to make my books such a success: Ellie Berger, president of Trade Publishing; Tracy van Straaten and Crystal McCoy in Publicity; Mindy Stockfield, Rachel Feld, and Vaishali Nayak in Marketing; Lizette Serrano, Emily Heddleson, Michael Strouse, Matthew Poulter, and Danielle Yadao in Library and School Marketing and Conventions; Aimee’s assistant, Olivia Valcarce; Melissa Schirmer, Cheryl Weisman, Leslie Garych, Catherine Sisco, Joanne Mojica, and everyone in Production; designer Nina Goffi for another fabulous cover and interior layout; map artist Jim McMahon; Jazan Higgins, Stephanie Peitz, Meghann Lucy, Jana Haussmann, Ann Marie Wong, Robin Hoffman, and everyone with the School Channels; Alan Smagler, Elizabeth Whiting, Jackie Rubin, Alexis Lunsford, Nikki Mutch, Sue Flynn, Chris Satterlund, Charlie Young, and everyone in Sales; Lori Benton, John Pels, and Paul Gagne for their amazing work on the Grenade audiobook; and all the sales reps and Fairs and Clubs reps across the country who work so hard to tell the world about my books.

  Special thanks to the writers at Bat Cave who heard me talk about this story for years, most especially to my friend and fellow writer Carrie Ryan for her eleventh hour critique that made a world of difference. Thanks as always to my friend Bob. And big thanks to my literary agent Holly Root at Root Literary, and to my publicists and right-hand women Lauren Harr and Caroline Christopoulos at Gold Leaf Literary Services—the work you do allows me to do the work I do. And thanks again to all the teachers, librarians, and booksellers out there who put my books into the hands of young readers—you’re awesome! And last but never least, much love and thanks to my wife, Wendi, and my daughter, Jo.

  Alan Gratz is the New York Times bestselling author of several books for young readers, including Refugee, a New York Times Notable Book and an Amazon, Kirkus Reviews, and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year; Projekt 1065, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2016; Prisoner B-3087, a Junior Library Guild selection that was named to YALSA’s 2014 Best Fiction for Young Adults list; and Code of Honor, a YALSA 2016 Quick Pick. Alan lives in North Carolina with his wife and daughter. Look for him online at alangratz.com.

  Also by Alan Gratz

  Refugee

  Projekt 1065

  Prisoner B-3087

  Code of Honor

  Ban This Book

  The Brooklyn Nine

  Samurai Shortstop

  Read more captivating novels from

  ALAN GRATZ!

  Ten concentration camps. Ten different places where you are starved, tortured, and worked mercilessly. It’s something no one could imagine surviving. But it is what Yanek Gruener has to face. Can he make it through the terror without losing his hope, his will—and, most of all, his sense of who he really is inside? This astonishing tale of survival is based on the true story of Yanek (Jack) Gruener.

  World War II is raging. Michael, originally from Ireland, now lives in Nazi Germany with his parents. Like the other boys in his school, Michael is a member of the Hitler Youth. But Michael has a secret. He and his parents are spies. When Michael learns about Projekt 1065, a secret Nazi plan to build a new kind of airplane, he may risk losing everything to steal the blueprints … including his own life.

  Kamran Smith has it all. When he graduates from high school, he can’t wait to join the Army like his older brother, Darius. But everything implodes when Darius is accused of being a terrorist. Kamran knows it’s up to him to clear his brother’s name. In a race against time, Kamran must piece together a series of clues that will lead him to Darius—and the truth. But is it a truth Kamran is ready to face?

  Text copyright © 2018 by Alan Gratz

  Map copyright © 2018 by Jim McMahon

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

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  While inspired by real events and historical characters, this is a work of fiction and does not claim to be historically accurate or portray factual events or relationships. Please keep in mind that references to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales may not be factually accurate, but rather fictionalized by the author.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

  First edition, October 2018

  Jacket art © 2018 by Hitandrun

  Jacket design by Nina Goffi

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-24571-4

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.