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Mr. Leon is murdered
Mr. Leon was Paul's favorite teacher. He was murdered in a park in their country, France, by Nazi soldiers. This is important because it made Paul very afraid of the soldiers, but also very mad that they were killing innocent people. -
Paul buys cookies for his mom
Paul worked very hard to get money to buy his mom cookies for her birthday. It was important because it had been years since they had any treats due to the war. On his way home, he fell and dropped the cookies to avoid being ran over by Nazis. -
Paul finds Victor
When Paul gets up, a pigeon alerts him to a paratrooper stuck in a tree. His name is Victor and he is an American soldier. Victor asks Paul to cut him down, but Paul didn't feel safe because he felt like the Nazis may kill him for helping an Allie. He took the risk and cut Victor down because he knew that Victor could help his country. -
Paul finds out his mom's secret
Mr. Leon tells Paul that his mother is also a member of The Resistance. Paul feels betrayed because she never kept a secret from him, but he feels proud knowing that his mom is helping his country. -
The Allies deliver a message
The Allies tell The Resistance they need to destroy the Nazi's weapons in their town. This is important because the message also says that it must be done tonight because tomorrow The Allies will be attacking the Nazis at Normandy Beach. This is a dangerous task because they have to use explosives to destroy the weapons. -
The plan backfires
The Resistance members return from their mission, but Victor has been shot and another member was killed. They tried to destroy the weapons, but found out that the Nazis moved them. A notebook they found says they have been moved to the cliffs over Normandy Beach. -
Paul and Victor look for shelter
Paul and Victor run to a nearby abandoned castle to hide out from Nazis. They learn that a group called The Resistance is already hiding out there. This is important because Paul finds Mr. Leon there. He finds out that he faked his death to be able to secretly help The Resistance fight the war and the Nazis. -
Paul leads Mr. Leon to the cliff
Paul leads Mr. Leon through a secret path that only he can find to get to the cliff. He knows that he is the only one who knows because him and his friend used to play soccer there. They can't go through the regular streets because they are blocked by guards. This is important because this is how they get to the weapons that need to be destroyed. This is also important because Paul is only 11, but brave enough to enter the Nazi's territory. -
Paul and Mr. Leon destroy the weapons
Paul and Mr. Leon make it to the cliff and they both put explosive disks in the weapons. Allie planes fly above the cliff which makes the Nazis investigate. Paul & Mr. Leon successfully destroy the weapons, but Paul gets hit by something during the explosion and wakes up captured by the Nazis. This is important because some of the Nazi weapons that would have been used to fight the Allies are destroyed. That saved a lot of lives. -
Paul runs away
An Allie plane drops a bomb and it lands close enough to the Nazi that is holding Paul captive that it kills the soldier. That gives Paul enough time to run away. This is important because Paul knows he would have been tortured by the Nazis or killed by the Allies on accident. -
Paul hides out
Paul runs and hides in the hedgerows on the cliff. While he is hiding, he sees the Allie soldiers jumping out of boats and storming the beach. This is important because even though he's still scared, he knows that this means the war is almost over. -
The war is over
The war is over and was successfully won, but many people took risks. 6 million Jewish people were killed during the war. Over 60 million people died from battles and diseases related to the war. Paul is happy it is over and his family is safe.
