Tamar by Mal Peet

As William and his son Jan walk through the luscious garden they discuss the impending birth of Jan's child with his beautiful wife. William makes a request that shocks his only child. If the child is a girl name her Tamar. Jan's curiosity is peeked, yet never the less he agrees to the name but only if his wife likes it. William believes this is fair and waits for the news patiently. Jan and his wife attend a family lunch with William and Marijke, Jan's mother. Jan gives his father the good news that he and his wife agree to name their daughter Tamar. Marijke brings in the gravy bowl, at the sound of the name Tamar she drops the bowl all over the table and the belly of her pregnant daughter in law. If this is not a sign of things to come I don't know what is.
Jan abruptly leaves his wife and child,fully abandoning them. William and Marijke continue to forge a relationship with their granddaughter, but not without the secrets and lies that the Hyde family has been built upon.
The lies catch up to William causing him to pretend he is still apart of his secret regime, parachuting into the Nazi occupied Netherlands. William stands upon his balcony and jumps out killing himself and leaving something of a Pandora's box for his beloved Tamar.
As a part of the Arnhem offensive William and his friend Ernst were trained as Special Operations Executives during World War II. The jobs of these young men were to spy on the resistant Nazi army and bring forth intelligence to the English. The two men were given the code names Tamar and Dart, both being named after rivers in England, but just like the true meaning of the name Tamar secrets and lies begin to shadow even the two friends.
It becomes Tamar's responsibility to find out the secrets of her grandfather and become the woman her destiny calls for. With the help of her cousin Johannes, better known as Yo-Yo. Tamar, who is only fifteen must cope with the loss of her grandfather and figure out the meanings behind the letters and clues left in this box with her name on it.
In this box holds mystery's that will take Tamar back to World War II and back to the secrets her grandfather has held for decades inside of a simple box. Tamar must make choices that no fifteen year old should have to make, fear propels her to take the journey into finding out who she is. Her grandfather William and grandmother Marijke are not who they appear to be which ultimately means that Tamar is not whom she appears to be.
Mal Peet infuses history, mystery and fictional characters into a compelling book that causes you to stop and look at the world around you.He goes beyond the basics of the history of the war to bring the reader in the history of the Intelligence people who were making a difference in the war. Peet guides us through the motives behind the secrets and lies that guide Tamar's existence. This text could easily be used in both U.S. History classes and Literature classes in any high school. Mal Peet uses the actual history of what was going on during this time, even going as far as to interview men who were involved in the Arnhem offensive for the Dutch, becoming trained for Special Operations in England. Peet allows us to see the emotional depth that William, and his granddaughter must confront on their journey's. The reality of the book along with the fictional elements make a case for unit based thinking if introducing this book in a high school setting. However this book can easily be seen as an adult book as well. It becomes more cross categorical in this way. Overall, Mal Peet has stuck to a style of writing that puts you right into the suspense and thrill of espionage, passion, and betrayal, as its sub title suggests.