The Girl and the Bombardier: A True Story of Rescue and Resistance in Nazi-Occupied France

In this poignant and unique debut history, Ankeny combines her father’s WWII experiences with the impressions of a young Belgian woman who helped rescue him from Nazi-occupied France. Drafted one month before his college graduation, Dean Tate trained as a B-17 bombardier in the U.S. Army Air Corps after failing the pilot qualifying test by one point. On his fifth mission, Tate’s plane was strafed by a German fighter and caught fire. He bailed out over a village in northern France and was taken in by members of the French Resistance, including 17-year-old Godelieve Van Laere, whose parents agreed to hide the downed airman. Drawing from her father’s journals and letters, Ankeny recreates his journey to safety through an escape network responsible for rescuing more than 100 Allied servicemen. After her father’s death in 2003, Ankeny reached out to Van Laere and traveled to France to meet her and other people whose families rescued Allied airmen. Ankeny fluidly intertwines both sides of the story, and provides necessary historical context. The result is an intimate and inspirational account of ordinary people committing heroic acts under extraordinary circumstances. Agent: Jennifer Weis, Ross Yoon Agency (Sept.)