Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II

Max in the House of Spies, published in 2024, is a work of historical fiction for middle-grade children by Adam Gidwitz. The novel blends elements of a spy thriller with history and fantasy, telling the story of Max Bretzfeld, a brilliant 11-year-old German Jewish boy sent to England in 1939 on the Kindertransport (a historical child refugee program). Determined to return to Berlin and his parents, Max conceives a daring plan: to become a British spy. The novel was named a best book 2024 by the New York Times 2024 and The Wall Street Journal, and was lauded by Publishers Weekly, and the School Library Journal. Gidwitz is the author of several other acclaimed books for young readers, including the A Tale Dark and Grimm (2010)—adapted by Netflix in 2021—and The Inquisitor’s Tale (2016), which received a Newbery Medal in 2017.

Max in the House of Spies is the first installment of the Operation Kinderspion duology, which concludes with Max in the Land of Lies (2025). Drawing on the real-world history of World War II as told from a child’s perspective, the book explores themes of Deception as a Tool for Survival and Resistance, The Painful Duality of a German Jewish Identity during WWII, and The Loss of Childhood During War. Gidwitz’s narrative is informed by a personal connection to this history: In the book’s Afterword, he explains that the story was inspired by the experience of Michael Steinberg, a close family friend who was among the children rescued on the Kindertransport.

This guide refers to the 2025 Dutton Children’s Books paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide feature depictions of racism, religious discrimination, bullying, physical abuse, emotional abuse, suicide, and death.

Language Note: The source text uses terms that are considered offensive, in order to accurately represent and critique racial prejudice in the 1930s and 1940s. This guide reproduces them only where necessary in this critical context.

Plot Summary

In the summer of 1939, 11-year-old Max Bretzfeld, a Jewish boy living with his parents in Berlin, is sent to England on the Kindertransport. Max is a “genius,” especially precocious in making and mending radios from “junk.” On the ferry, two tiny immortal creatures appear on his shoulders: Stein, a Jewish dybbuk, and Berg, a German kobold: they describe themselves as a form of “hobgoblin.” Max, initially believing he is hallucinating, confirms their independent existence by asking them to provide him with obscure factual information that he does not know himself.

On arrival, Max is picked up by Mr. Ken, a chauffeur, and learns that he has been placed with a wealthy family, the Montagus. When he arrives at 28 Kensington Court, their London home, he meets Mr. and Mrs. Montagu, their sons David and Anthony, and Mr. Montagu’s brothers, Uncle Ivor and Uncle Ewen. The family are welcoming to Max and Uncle Ewen gives him a smart Murphy A46 radio. While Max is polite, he feels strange and homesick. He finds it difficult to think of his parents facing discrimination and poverty in Berlin while he lives in comfort with the Montagus. Max is further unsettled when he sees the Montagus observing Shabbat dinner and discovers they are Jewish: This triggers more confused feelings around family, identity, and homesickness. Max secretly modifies his radio using a stolen dinner knife to boost its signal, allowing him to receive the Berlin broadcast. After listening to Nazi propaganda and a terrifying speech by Joseph Goebbels, which he hates, Max resolves to return home to his parents. Outside his door, Uncle Ewen overhears the Berlin broadcast and becomes aware of Max’s technical skill.

Max enrolls at St. West’s School which David and Anthony attend, an expensive private boys’ school which cultivates imperialist values: The boys are insular, snobbish, and unkind. Max is immediately targeted by bullies, particularly ringleaders Circuitt and Bonner, and his teacher, Master Yarrow, for being German and Jewish. A flashback reveals a similar situation in his German school, where Max learned to navigate and outsmart bullies, including his teacher, when the school curriculum and ethos became explicitly antisemitic under Nazi rule. During rugby trials at St. West’s, in which violence is encouraged, Circuitt viciously taunts and assaults Max. The school’s only non-white student, Harold Wadia is ostracized for being Indian by the racist school community. Max hopes that he might find an ally in Harold but, while Harold advises Max to keep quiet to survive, he rebuffs his friendliness, saying that it will be easier for Max because Max is white.

Rejecting Harold’s advice, Max devises an elaborate prank to get revenge on the bullies. Surprising everyone, he volunteers to be the rugby team’s “color-bearer,” usually a humiliating position given to a boy who has failed at rugby trials. He offers to come in for early morning “practice,” gaining access to the sports field, Victor Square. For a month, while the school prepares for their flagship match against rival school Harrow, he secretly buys 40-pound bags of birdseed and spreads it on the field while running with the large pink school flag, conditioning the local pigeon population. On the day of the match, Max runs with the flag as planned, summoning thousands of pigeons that swarm the field and force the game to be cancelled. When Uncle Ewen guesses what Max did and reveals his secret to the family, Mr. Montagu is furious and Mrs. Montagu is shocked. Uncle Ewen and Uncle Ivor are deeply impressed by Max’s ingenuity, however, and Ewen declares him a “genius.”

Nearly a year passes and Max begins to feel that 28 Kensington Court is home. It is now September 1940: World War II has begun but Max has not heard from his parents, which makes him sad and anxious. One day German bombers attack London, and the Montagu family takes shelter in their basement. This is the beginning of the Blitz when the German Airforce bombarded British civilian populations. During the raid, Max is moved by the family’s cheerful courage and feels a sense of hopefulness. This experience strengthens his resolve, and he soon sees a path home to Berlin. He learns that Uncle Ewen works for Naval Intelligence and is a spy. Observing Ewen’s frustration over the lack of intelligence from within Germany, Max decides to offer to become a British spy.

To gain the attention of British Intelligence, Max orchestrates a plan during a meeting between two intelligence officers, Ewen and his superior Admiral John Godfrey, and Mr. Montagu. The secret meeting is disguised as a fishing trip for the whole family. Against strict instructions, Max interrupts the adult discussion, abruptly volunteering his services. When these are rejected outright, Max uses his technical skills to turn the Montagus’ car radio into a transmitter and rigs Admiral Godfrey’s radio to receive the signal, broadcasting their private conversation about Admiral Godfrey directly to the Admiral’s car. In response, Admiral Godfrey orders Ewen to bring Max to “Camp 020” for interrogation.

At Camp 020, Max is interrogated by Colonel “Tin Eye” Roberts. Uncle Ewen is also present. Colonel Roberts accuses Max of masquerading as Jewish and being a Nazi spy, making numerous racist and antisemitic slurs in an attempt to uncover possible Nazi sympathies. Max is angry at Colonel Roberts’s discriminatory attitude and, confused as to why Uncle Ewen is letting this happen, proudly asserts his Jewishness. When Colonel Roberts changes tack, accusing Max of being blackmailed by the Nazis into spying in return for his parents’ safety, Max recounts the horrors of Kristallnacht and argues that, while he would spy for the Nazis to save his parents, he was never given the chance. He admits sadly that he does not know whether his parents are safe. Colonel Roberts declares him “secure and cleared,” revealing the interrogation to be a test of his loyalty and resilience. Ewen officially recruits Max for spy training.

Max is taken to Tring Park, the estate of the wealthy and eccentric Lord Rothschild, an influential British Jewish magnate, which is being used as a secret training facility. He meets his team: Jean Leslie, his young handler or “Mother”; Lieutenant “Chumley,” his espionage instructor; and Lord Rothschild himself, the explosives expert. Max’s training begins with unorthodox tests, including a surprise encounter with a kangaroo named Kathy that teaches him about assessing others’ motivations. Chumley gives Max his primary objective: To pass training, he must place a note with the correct spelling of Chumley’s name in a “dead letter box” within one month. The box is under constant surveillance by the Military Police, led by Sergeant Toby Thompson, a British colonial soldier from Trinidad.

Max’s training intensifies with daily physical challenges against Jean, combat practice on a dummy rigged with explosives by Lord Rothschild, and poker games with the team to learn bluffing and reading tells. He fails his first attempt at the dead letter box: Although he reaches the box, he finds that Chumley’s name is not spelled “Chumley.” Max befriends Sergeant Thompson, who shares his personal story of leaving Trinidad and joining the British Army, an institution he resents for its imperialist history and attitudes, in order to follow the woman he loved to England. This example of personal loyalty and sacrifice strengthens Max’s own commitment to do anything for his parents. As the dead letter box deadline approaches, Max despairs until Jean talks to him about embracing a life of challenge and experience, renewing his determination.

On the final day of training, Max executes a brilliant plan. He uses Marmite sandwiches to lure Kathy the kangaroo off the estate, creating a diversion that draws Sergeant Thompson and the Military Police away from their posts. With the guardhouse empty, Max slips inside and consults the official entry ledger, finally discovering the correct, non-phonetic spelling of Lieutenant Chumley’s name that has eluded him for weeks: Cholmondeley. He successfully places the note in the dead letter box. The team, initially furious over the chaos, is impressed when Chumley reveals Max has passed his final test.

Max undergoes a final psychological assessment with a psychologist, Dr. William Brown, in a secret London hotel basement. Prime Minister Winston Churchill observes. Dr. Brown is pompous and declares Max too young and emotionally unstable for the mission. With a whispered prompt from Berg, Max discredits Dr. Brown by revealing knowledge of the doctor’s connections with a notorious Nazi eugenics expert. The assessment panel votes in favor of the mission, and Churchill gives the final approval.

Max’s mission is confirmed: He will infiltrate the Haus des Rundfunks (Funkhaus), the center of Nazi radio broadcasting in Berlin. On the drive to the airfield, Ewen reveals a devastating truth: Max’s parents are no longer living in their Berlin apartment, and their whereabouts are unknown. Ewen makes Max promise he will not look for them, as it would compromise the mission and endanger them all. Max gives his promise while secretly vowing to himself that he will find his parents. Max is secretly flown over German territory to be dropped into the country by parachute. Major Jameson executes a tandem parachute jump with Max from the plane. When Major Jameson dies on landing, a terrified Max finds himself lost in the German countryside with only Stein and Berg for company.

Gidwitz ends his book with an extensive Afterword, giving information about the real historical events and people which appear in the novel, and other cultural influences, including the folkloric elements, the English public school system, the Intelligence Services, British colonialism, and antisemitism in mid-20th-century Britain.