Good historical based fiction introduction for young adult readers to the resistance movement in Norway during World War II.

Shadow on the Mountain is based on the true adventures of a wartime spy, Erling Storrusten. The book is set in Lillehammer, Norway during World War 11. The main character fourteen-year-old Espen becomes swept up in the Norwegian resistance movement. At first he serves as a carrier of messages and newspapers. Finally he infiltrates the German’s headquarters and flees on skies to Sweden to avoid capture. There are lots of near escapes and terrifying moments, but it is worth reading for the adventure and survival alone. Reviewed by AL

This is an historical novel aimed at children, set in occupied Norway during World War II. The main character Espen is 14 when the novel begins and starts out delivering underground newspapers. He then becomes a courier and later a spy. Espen is based on the real life Erling Storrusten.
Most of the story is from Espen's point of view, but some chapters are also from the point of view of another young man, Aksel, who joins the German side and some chapters are from Espen's little sister Ingrid.
The history is interesting, and Preus has done her research here. I would have liked more story as I felt it ended a bit abruptly and before the end of the war. I grew to care about Espen as Preus really gave him depth. The reader gets a real feel for the conditions the Norwegian people lived under and the German power they were up against. Being on home terrain gave them a real advantage, but as some of them joined the German side, that wasn't as effective as it might have been. Despite the odds, the Norwegian people became a real burr in the side of the Germans, and this book shows the ways in which that happened. From subtle refusal to comply to sabotage, the people mounted an effective resistance to their occupiers.