The Lions' Run
Sara Pennypacker
Readers rate it 4.0 (2 on Hardcover)
Released Feb 3, 2026 · Balzer & Bray/Harperteen
Content report card
What's inside
Violence
Fighting, weapons, death
Language
Swearing, crude humor
Sexual content
Romance intensity, nudity
LGBTQ+ themes
Presence of characters or themes
Scary or mature
Horror, trauma, heavy themes
Substance use
Alcohol, drugs, smoking
What it offers
Positive messages
Kindness, courage, honesty, resilience
Positive role models
Characters who model good judgment and growth
Educational value
History, science, culture, how the world works
A note for parents
This historical fiction set during WWII focuses on a young orphan's journey from self-doubt to courage through involvement with the French Resistance. The violence is implied rather than graphic—references to Nazi occupation, forced adoptions, and Jewish families in hiding—but nothing depicted as explicitly brutal. The story celebrates ordinary people making extraordinary moral choices, offering strong positive role models and messages about bravery, compassion, and standing up against injustice. Fans of similar works like Pax and Code Name Verity will appreciate the accessible short-chapter format and age-appropriate exploration of a serious historical period.
Analyzed by AI · 19 hours ago
From the publisher
The acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of Pax delivers an historical novel about an orphan during WWII who discovers unexpected courage within himself when he becomes involved with the Resistance. Petit éclair. That’s what the other boys at the orphanage call Lucas DuBois. Lucas is tired of his cowardly reput... The acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of Pax delivers an historical novel about an orphan during WWII who discovers unexpected courage within himself when he becomes involved with the Resistance. Petit éclair. That’s what the other boys at the orphanage call Lucas DuBois. Lucas is tired of his cowardly reputation, just as he’s tired of the war and the Nazi occupation of his French village. He longs to show how brave he can be. He gets the chance when he saves a litter of kittens from cruel boys and brings them to an abandoned stable to care for them. There he comes upon a stranger who is none too happy to see him: Alice, the daughter of a horse trainer, who is hiding her filly from German soldiers. Soon Lucas begins to realize they are not the only ones in the village with secrets. The housekeeper at the German maternity home and a priest at the orphanage pass coded messages; a young mother at the home makes dangerous plans to keep her baby from forced adoption; and a neighbor in town may be harboring a Jewish family. Emboldened by the unlikely heroes all around him, Lucas is forced to decide how much he is willing to risk to make the most courageous rescue of all. Perfect for fans of Alan Gratz, Ruta Sepetys, and Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, this accessible novel, told in short chapters, illuminates a little-known aspect of World War II history.
Shelved under
- Juvenile Fiction
- Young Adult
- Fiction
- historical
- historical fiction
- 20th century
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ISBN 9781250392817 · Balzer & Bray/Harperteen