Picture Gallery: from left to right Held, my great uncle Jan Hoogterp and at Harbour Front, Toronto, during the Silver Birch Award celebrations

'Hero' historical fiction for readers 7-10
Cover art by James Bentley, interior illustrations by Stephen McCallum
* winner of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario Writer's Award,
2006
* shortlisted for the hackmatack Award, 2006
* shortlisted for the Rocky Mountain Book Award, 2005
* on the list of the Ontario Library Association Best Book of 2003
"Jan! Move!" Els screamed. "The soldiers must not find us! We have to hide! They'll kill us! It's past curfew!"
During the last winter of World War II, Izaak must change his name to Jan and leave his hiding place in Amsterdam to travel with Els, a bike courier, to live on a farm in the northern part of the Netherlands. Although the people are kind to him, he is miserable until he makes friends with a beautiful black horse, Hero, a frisian stallion wanted by the Germans. When the Germans come for the horse, only Izaak can think of a way to save him.
The story of Hero is based on historical facts and even though this story is fictional, I have been able to stay as close to the real events as possible.
During the Second World War, my great uncle Jan Hoogterp, lived on a farm in Friesland. He had a passion for Frisian horses and over time he had become a well known breeder. His stallion, Held ( Hero) had become quite famous, which didn't go unnoticed by the Germans. The invaders had their eye on Held, but my great uncle managed to keep the stallion hidden every time the Germans came to requisition the horse.
On the eve of the liberation of Friesland by the Canadian armies, the horse was taken. Seventeen-year-old Andries Hofstee, farmhand and caretaker of Held drove a wagon load of fleeing German soldiers across the Afsluitdijk to the province of Noord Holland. During heavy fighting between Germans and Allied troops, Andries and Held had the opportunity to flee. For one long month, nobody knew where Andries and Held were.
One night, after the Netherlands had been liberated for more than a month, horse and rider returned home. Andries was welcomed as a hero.
After the war, Andries Hofstee immigrated to Australia, where he died in 1991.
During my research of the couriers for my YA novel, 'When the War is Over' I came across several accounts of young girls who had taken Jewish children from Amsterdam to Friesland. They traveled by bike to find safe hiding places on various farms. The children stayed for the duration of the war and went to the village' schools as 'nieces' and 'nephews' of the host family.
After submitting my manuscript to my editor, Maggie de Vries, imagine my surprise when she told me that there was a 'real' Jan de Vries. Her father had as a young boy, spent the last year of the war on a farm in Friesland. And although the 'real' Jan de Vries was not Jewish, he had had similar experiences during his stay on the farm.
Cover art by James Bentley, interior illustrations by Stephen McCallum
* winner of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario Writer's Award,
2006
* shortlisted for the hackmatack Award, 2006
* shortlisted for the Rocky Mountain Book Award, 2005
* on the list of the Ontario Library Association Best Book of 2003
"Jan! Move!" Els screamed. "The soldiers must not find us! We have to hide! They'll kill us! It's past curfew!"
During the last winter of World War II, Izaak must change his name to Jan and leave his hiding place in Amsterdam to travel with Els, a bike courier, to live on a farm in the northern part of the Netherlands. Although the people are kind to him, he is miserable until he makes friends with a beautiful black horse, Hero, a frisian stallion wanted by the Germans. When the Germans come for the horse, only Izaak can think of a way to save him.
The story of Hero is based on historical facts and even though this story is fictional, I have been able to stay as close to the real events as possible.
During the Second World War, my great uncle Jan Hoogterp, lived on a farm in Friesland. He had a passion for Frisian horses and over time he had become a well known breeder. His stallion, Held ( Hero) had become quite famous, which didn't go unnoticed by the Germans. The invaders had their eye on Held, but my great uncle managed to keep the stallion hidden every time the Germans came to requisition the horse.
On the eve of the liberation of Friesland by the Canadian armies, the horse was taken. Seventeen-year-old Andries Hofstee, farmhand and caretaker of Held drove a wagon load of fleeing German soldiers across the Afsluitdijk to the province of Noord Holland. During heavy fighting between Germans and Allied troops, Andries and Held had the opportunity to flee. For one long month, nobody knew where Andries and Held were.
One night, after the Netherlands had been liberated for more than a month, horse and rider returned home. Andries was welcomed as a hero.
After the war, Andries Hofstee immigrated to Australia, where he died in 1991.
During my research of the couriers for my YA novel, 'When the War is Over' I came across several accounts of young girls who had taken Jewish children from Amsterdam to Friesland. They traveled by bike to find safe hiding places on various farms. The children stayed for the duration of the war and went to the village' schools as 'nieces' and 'nephews' of the host family.
After submitting my manuscript to my editor, Maggie de Vries, imagine my surprise when she told me that there was a 'real' Jan de Vries. Her father had as a young boy, spent the last year of the war on a farm in Friesland. And although the 'real' Jan de Vries was not Jewish, he had had similar experiences during his stay on the farm.

"Hi, me again, Wrinkles. Did you know that Maggie de Vries' dad, was willing to read the manuscript before it was published? martha was sooo grateful for his suggestions."