For Ages
8 to 12

In this inspiring young readers adaptation of the New York Times bestseller, one American troop will save the world's most precious horses during the final stretch of World War II.

When American Colonel Hank Reed and his soldiers captures a German spy, they uncover an unexpected secret: Hitler has kidnapped the world's finest purebred horses and hidden them in a secret Czechoslovakian breeding farm. But, starving Russian troops are drawing closer and the horses face the danger of becoming food instead. With little time to spare, the small American troop cross enemy lines to heroically save some of the world's most treasured animals. 

Elizabeth Letts details the terrifying truth of Hitler's eugenics program during World War II and shares the story of the courageous American troop dedicated to stopping it.

Highlighting bravery in the face of incredible odds, this tale will shed light on a little-known piece of our past and speak to history fans and animal lovers of every age.

"Spellbinding...a must-read." —Booklist, Starred review

A Junior Library Guild Selection

An Excerpt fromThe Perfect Horse

Eight Years Earlier

1.

An Unlikely Olympian

Berlin, Germany, 1936

Alois Pod­haj­sky wore the cares of the world on his narrow, melancholy face. His gaze was like a poet’s, directed inward. His oeuvre was the art of classical dressage. His verses danced on four legs. Pod­haj­sky looked as if he’d been born to sit astride a horse. His long straight torso had no awkward angles, no rounded curves, nothing to detract from its elegant lines. But to look at the Austrian officer’s forlorn expression was to understand that within, he carried a shadow. In 1918, after being severely wounded in the neck while serving in the trenches in Flanders, he had suffered from shell shock. His love for horses had brought him slowly back, but the deep stillness of a defeated warrior never left him.

On June 12, 1936, Alois Pod­haj­sky sat astride his mount, Nero, ready to enter the rectangular dressage arena that had been set out with meticulous precision on May Field, a twenty-­eight-­acre lawn just to the east of the Olympic stadium; it was the site of…

Under the Cover