“Every human being on this earth deserves to be free from being ruled by an outside nation.”

“It doesn’t matter where you are born or who you come from. What is important is that you do the right thing. It is important to be on the right slide of history.”

Rosie Raja is an Indian princess
Forced to leave India as her aunt
The Queen
Joins the Freedom Movement
Peacefully fighting for India’s independence
Rosie is in danger
As she is heir to the palace
And also has an English father

When living in England
Her father is away a lot
He is in the British Indian army
Rosie discovers that he is a spy
Desperate not to be left alone
She stows away in a plane
And follows her father to Nazi occupied Paris
Where she too becomes a spy for Churchill
Working with the French Resistance

At first her jobs are tiny
Making notes
Observing
But soon Rosie is drawn into
The Maquis
Running errands
Passing messages
She becomes part of
The Raj Network
Headed by her father

This story is brilliantly written
My heart was in my mouth
When Rosie was stopped
In the street
By a Nazi soldier
I could not breathe
Until I knew that she was safe

The pace of the plot
Is fast
As the undercover operation
Is at risk of being exposed
Rosie, her father
And other operatives
Have to get out of Paris

As Rosie, her father
And their comrades
Try to leave by train
Soldiers board and
Search the carriages
The fear is so well written
I felt like I was sitting
On the train myself
Praying no one had
Betrayed me
That i was not about
To be exposed to
The Nazis

This story is laden
With emotion
Guilt at leaving
People behind
Struggling to understand
Why any British people
Would help the Nazis

Rosie’s grief for her mother
Helps her to understand
Those around her in France
Who have suffered loss
Through the story
You forget she is a princess
She is a courageous
Resilient
Wise young girl
Standing alongside
French and British adults
And children like her
To fight against their
Common enemy

Parallels are drawn between
Nazi occupied France
And the rulers and the ruled
In India
Rosie and her father
Have experience of both
The links between the two
Are well made
I definitely want to learn more
About Ghandi and
The Freedom Movement
In India

As the story moves on
Rosie is drawn deeper in
To The Resistance
She learns Morse Code
As she observes
Her father’s Radio Operator
Send messages back to London

Rosie is determined and defiant
She wants to learn
She wants to be a spy like her father
She has the strength and courage
Of her Aunt
The Warrior Queen

She sneaks out after her father
To see new undercover agents
Arrive by parachute
To help the cause
Rosie wants to train to be a
Parachutist when she returns
To England
She wants to be
Agent Rosie

Rosie starts to learn
How spies communicate
Using codes
Her father and his team
Set up a practice mission
For Rosie and Jean

It would be a wonderful
Learning experience
And great fun
To set up a mission
For children reading this book
Getting them to
Learn morse code
Write, send, receive and
Decode messages
Learn other secret codes such as
Reverse alphabet
Hidden messages inside books
Maths code

Just as Rosie and Jean do
In the story
A Spy Test!

There are some tense moments
In this story
When Rosie has to hide
From the Nazi predators
As they hunt for her
As they watch a woman
Who has kept them
Safe and hidden
Taken away by the
German soldiers
These moments
Are brilliantly written
Placing the reader
At the heart of the action
I have held my breath
For multiple pages
At a time
Reading Rosie’s story
Witnessing the mission
To subvert and sabotage
The enemy

When Rosie, Jean
And her father
Return to Paris
For one last mission
It is heartstopping stuff
Observations are made
Plans laid
But something goes wrong
Can Rosie make it right?
Can they rescue
One of their own
And still complete
Their mission?
Churchill’s mission

This book is just amazing
It makes you think about
The decisions people
Had to make in the war
Working under cover
Under pressure
Fighting an awful enemy
Making unthinkable sacrifices
Unfathomable choices
Through Rosie’s narration
We feel every emotion
Felt by this 11 year old girl
By her father
And the members of
The Maquis

Gripped by fear
Guided by hope
Powered by love
Inspired by loss
Filled with courage
Fighting for freedom
This is a book about people
About their motivations
Why they do what they do

A brilliant and beautiful book
Exquisitely written
I have left Rosie
With so many questions
So much I want to
Research and learn more about

I am so excited to know
That there will be more adventures
With Rosie Raja
For now I am going
To read around her story
Starting with the books
Pictured here

Thank you Sufiya Ahmed
For Rosie Raja
Churchill’s Spy