Into the Fire by Ann Brashares

Into the Fire

Ann Brashares, Ben Brashares

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers · Hardcover · September 16, 2025

From #1 New York Times bestselling Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants author Ann Brashares and her brother Ben Brashares comes the “resonant and powerful” (School Library Journal, starred review) second book in the action-packed middle grade alternate history thriller trilogy that asks what present-day America would be like if Germany had won World War II.

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Who it’s for
An action-packed alternate-history thriller where changing the past leaves the present perilously unsettled.
Genres
Time Travel Fiction, Wars & Military History, Historical Europe
Published
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, September 16, 2025

Nearest books

Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: Wars & Military History.

  1. WestfallenAnn Brashares, Ben Brashares90% matchAlso shares Time Travel Fiction
  2. Max in the House of SpiesAdam Gidwitz61% match
  3. Max in the Land of LiesAdam Gidwitz66% match
  4. War GamesAlan Gratz59% match
  5. Take It From the TopClaire Swinarski55% match
  6. The Doomsday VaultThomas Wheeler58% matchAlso shares Time Travel Fiction
  7. The Night WarKimberly Brubaker Bradley61% matchAlso shares Historical Europe
  8. Lines of CourageJennifer A. Nielsen63% matchAlso shares Historical Europe

For older readers: Facing the Enemy, Trajectory, Bluebird

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About this book

From #1 New York Times bestselling Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants author Ann Brashares and her brother Ben Brashares comes the “resonant and powerful” (School Library Journal, starred review) second book in the action-packed middle grade alternate history thriller trilogy that asks what present-day America would be like if Germany had won World War II.

Continue reading

Former best friends Henry, Frances, and Lukas thought they’d managed to restore history to its original path after their antics with a time-bending radio went awry. But they’re still trapped in Westfallen, the version of present-day America where the Axis won WWII, living an alternate—and much darker—version of their lives. Henry has to work at the Home for Incurables, Lukas is on hard labor all day, and only Frances, whose parents are members of the Nazi elite, gets to go to school and move freely. And since they and their friends in 1944 destroyed the radio, they have to find cruder and ever-more-desperate ways to communicate across time. Frances uses her privilege in Westfallen to gather as much information as she can, while Henry tries to turn Lukas into a local baseball hero to save him from being sent away to a work camp. But the deeper the three friends and their 1944 counterparts dig into how Westfallen came to be, the more they begin to attract unwanted attention from people with a vested interest in making sure this version of history becomes permanent…at any cost.

History Unsettled

An action-packed alternate-history thriller where changing the past leaves the present perilously unsettled.

Come here for

  • Come for time-bending suspense and a darker alternate America.
  • Come for friends trying to reach across history under pressure.

Expect

  • A tense mix of time travel, friendship, and historical stakes.
  • A middle-grade story with a decidedly dark version of America.

Where it sits

Time Travel Fiction90%
Wars & Military History39%
Historical Europe25%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Holocaust Stories
  • Time Travel Fiction
  • War & Military Stories
Authors
Ann Brashares, Ben Brashares
Publisher
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published
September 16, 2025
Format
Hardcover
Reading lane
Holocaust Stories