Belgian Twins

When German soldiers march into their village and take their parents away, Belgian twins Jan and Marie are left alone in a world suddenly made terrifying. With only their dog for company, the children must flee through war-torn countryside, dodging soldiers and bombs, in desperate search for their missing mother and father. Lucy Fitch Perkins wrote this 1917 novel based on actual accounts of Belgian refugees, and the story pulses with real historical urgency: the fear of occupation, the chaos of displacement, and the unbearable separation of family. Young readers will feel the twins' terror and determination in equal measure as they risk everything to stay together and find their way back to the people they love. This is adventure fiction with real stakes, showing what happens when ordinary children are forced to become extraordinary in the cruellest of circumstances.