Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II (Operation Kinderspion)

by Adam Gidwitz

At the word liar Max’s attention suddenly went to the letter in his pocket. Was he lying by hiding this letter from Uncle Ewen? And Berg had asked a very reasonable question: Why was he hiding it? Ewen went on, apparently unaware of Max’s interior monologue. “But being a spy is not about lying, Max. It is about the creation of fictions. To enter enemy territory under a false name, with a false background, one must invent a whole history. It’s like writing a novel.” Ewen chuckled. “We’ve got quite a few novelists in our department, actually. A young man named Ian Fleming. And Admiral Godfrey writes spy novels, did you know that?” Max, forcing himself to forget about the letter, joked, “Are they just strings of curse words?” Ewen laughed. “They’re actually not half bad. But the writing of a fiction—a fake background—isn’t the hardest part of spycraft, though you have to do a frightfully good job lining up all the pieces, making sure your cover identity is airtight. Much harder by far, though, is living the fiction.” Max was quickly becoming very aware how hard it was to live a fiction, given that he was trying not to mention the letter in his pocket and was consequently sweating through his shirt. Ewen was saying, “You have to have a strange relationship with truth to live a fiction, Max. You have to believe the fiction you’re living, and your mind needs to be totally and utterly free from the truth. Except.” Ewen stopped and emphasized the word. “Except. You cannot lose the...