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Agent Most Wanted

The Never-Before-Told Story of the Most Dangerous Spy of World War II

Author Sonia Purnell
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Hardcover
$19.99 US
Penguin Young Readers | Viking Books for Young Readers
On sale Aug 09, 2022 | 208 Pages | 9780593350546
Age 10 and up | Grade 5 & Up
Reading Level: Lexile 1150L | Fountas & Pinnell Z+
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A young readers adaptation of Sonia Purnell's New York Times bestselling book A Woman of No Importance, the story of Virginia Hall; the unassuming American spy who helped the allies win World War II.

Virginia Hall was deemed "the most dangerous of all allied spies" by the Gestapo. Armed with her wits and her prosthetic leg, she was deployed behind enemy lines to inspire resistance in France, providing crucial support to fighting the Nazi occupation. In this largely untold story, Sonia Purnell uncovers the truth behind a Baltimore socialite who was essential to allied victory.

Adapted for the elementary to middle school audience, Agent Most Wanted is equal parts an inspiring tale of feminism in a time when women weren't taken seriously, an epic spy story, and, of course, a retelling of winning one of the largest global conflicts in modern history.
May 1940. France was falling to Germany. Ten million women, children, and old men--the largest exodus of refugees in history--were fleeing the armies of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. Roads were littered with burned-out cars, possessions, and bodies. But the horde kept coming: a never-ending line too hungry, tired, and fearful to stop.

A French army ambulance wove through the crowd, its driver a thirty-four-year-old American volunteer. Private Virginia Hall often ran low on fuel and medicine, but she just kept going. Even when enemy German aircraft screamed overhead, dive-bombing the convoys all around her, torching the cars and cratering the roads. Even when the planes machine-gunned the ditches where women and children were taking shelter. Even when her left hip complained with her constantly pressing on the clutch with her prosthetic foot.

In the midst of destruction, she had never felt so thrillingly alive.

Virginia's services as an ambulance driver was an apprenticeship for her future mission against the occupying German forces. In an age when women barely figured in warfare, she went on to create a daredevil role for herself involving espionage, sabotage, and resistance behind enemy lines.

As an undercover agent, Virginia operated in the shadows, and that was where she was happy. Her closest allies knew neither her real name nor her nationality. She seemed to have no home or family or regiment, just a burning desire to defeat the Nazis. Constantly changing her appearance and mannerisms, surfacing without notice then disappearing again, she remained a mystery throughout the war and in some ways after it too.

When the battle for France's liberation from Hitler's tyranny began, in 1944, the underground Resistance fighters she had equipped, trained, and sometimes commanded exceeded all expectations and helped bring about complete and final victory for the Allies: Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. But even that was not enough for Virginia Hall.
Copyright © 2022 by Sonia Purnell. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
★“[A] gripping nonfiction work that reads like a spy thriller...The account of her many exploits is wonderfully written and made even more phenomenal by her determination. Readers will walk away inspired. A first purchase where WWII history and riveting tales of adventure are popular.” – School Library Journal (starred review)

★"This riveting biography provides the framework of Hall's life, concentrating on the war years and her phenomenal ability to fade into the background while gathering intelligence, communicating with the British, and undermining German control within occupied France. Young readers intrigued by espionage during World War II will find this a well-researched, smoothly written, and completely riveting account of Hall's experiences."--Booklist (starred review)

★"Well-chosen, key moments convey Hall’s reliance on both luck and her own instincts, her quick thinking, her immense skill at assessing perilous situations, and her frank courage. . . A captivating account of a remarkable woman."--Kirkus (starred review)
© Getty Images
Sonia Purnell is a bestselling and prize-winning author celebrated for her lively writing style and meticulous research with a growing readership across the world. Her work has been optioned by several leading filmmakers, won fans from all walks of life from presidents to physicians and been translated into almost thirty languages. Readers write to her regularly on how they have drawn inspiration from her books, which have sold more than a million copies worldwide.

Her first work—the unauthorized biography of Boris Johnson called Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition—was long listed for the Orwell prize in 2011. As the first to challenge his track record and integrity, it changed the national debate and remains the definitive biography. Purnell has become the go-to commentator at home and abroad on his rise to power and his record in office.
Her second book, First Lady in the UK and Clementine in the US, (a finalist for the Plutarch prize) revealed for the first time the vital role played in Winston Churchill's career by his wife Clementine. The book has subsequently shaped Clementine’s portrayal on screen, including in the Netflix series The Crown when she was played by Harriet Walter who has described Sonia’s writing as a “whirlwind of fresh air” that opens “a door . . . into a flood of sunlight.”

Purnell's third work, A Woman of No Importance, is the inspirational true-life tale of a female spy in WWII, Virginia Hall, a young American socialite with a wooden leg, who helped fan the flames of French Resistance. It became an instant New York Times Bestseller when published in 2019, remained on the list for many weeks, and won the prestigious Plutarch Prize for Best Biography in 2020. 

Her latest book Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction & Intrigue (Kingmaker: Pamela Churchill Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Seduction, Intrigue & Power in the UK) came out in September 2024 to huge critical and reader acclaim. It has been hailed as a Book of the Year by no fewer than fifteen media outlets from the Guardian to the Economist via the New Yorker.

Kingmaker is an electrifying reexamination of one of the twentieth century’s greatest unsung power players as well as an eye-popping tale of sex, money, politics and fabulous clothes. Previously written off as a courtesan and social climber, Pamela Harriman’s true legacy has been overshadowed by her infamous erotic adventures. Much of what she did behind the scenes to change the world has remained invisible and secret. That is, until now. View titles by Sonia Purnell

About

A young readers adaptation of Sonia Purnell's New York Times bestselling book A Woman of No Importance, the story of Virginia Hall; the unassuming American spy who helped the allies win World War II.

Virginia Hall was deemed "the most dangerous of all allied spies" by the Gestapo. Armed with her wits and her prosthetic leg, she was deployed behind enemy lines to inspire resistance in France, providing crucial support to fighting the Nazi occupation. In this largely untold story, Sonia Purnell uncovers the truth behind a Baltimore socialite who was essential to allied victory.

Adapted for the elementary to middle school audience, Agent Most Wanted is equal parts an inspiring tale of feminism in a time when women weren't taken seriously, an epic spy story, and, of course, a retelling of winning one of the largest global conflicts in modern history.

Excerpt

May 1940. France was falling to Germany. Ten million women, children, and old men--the largest exodus of refugees in history--were fleeing the armies of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. Roads were littered with burned-out cars, possessions, and bodies. But the horde kept coming: a never-ending line too hungry, tired, and fearful to stop.

A French army ambulance wove through the crowd, its driver a thirty-four-year-old American volunteer. Private Virginia Hall often ran low on fuel and medicine, but she just kept going. Even when enemy German aircraft screamed overhead, dive-bombing the convoys all around her, torching the cars and cratering the roads. Even when the planes machine-gunned the ditches where women and children were taking shelter. Even when her left hip complained with her constantly pressing on the clutch with her prosthetic foot.

In the midst of destruction, she had never felt so thrillingly alive.

Virginia's services as an ambulance driver was an apprenticeship for her future mission against the occupying German forces. In an age when women barely figured in warfare, she went on to create a daredevil role for herself involving espionage, sabotage, and resistance behind enemy lines.

As an undercover agent, Virginia operated in the shadows, and that was where she was happy. Her closest allies knew neither her real name nor her nationality. She seemed to have no home or family or regiment, just a burning desire to defeat the Nazis. Constantly changing her appearance and mannerisms, surfacing without notice then disappearing again, she remained a mystery throughout the war and in some ways after it too.

When the battle for France's liberation from Hitler's tyranny began, in 1944, the underground Resistance fighters she had equipped, trained, and sometimes commanded exceeded all expectations and helped bring about complete and final victory for the Allies: Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. But even that was not enough for Virginia Hall.
Copyright © 2022 by Sonia Purnell. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Praise

★“[A] gripping nonfiction work that reads like a spy thriller...The account of her many exploits is wonderfully written and made even more phenomenal by her determination. Readers will walk away inspired. A first purchase where WWII history and riveting tales of adventure are popular.” – School Library Journal (starred review)

★"This riveting biography provides the framework of Hall's life, concentrating on the war years and her phenomenal ability to fade into the background while gathering intelligence, communicating with the British, and undermining German control within occupied France. Young readers intrigued by espionage during World War II will find this a well-researched, smoothly written, and completely riveting account of Hall's experiences."--Booklist (starred review)

★"Well-chosen, key moments convey Hall’s reliance on both luck and her own instincts, her quick thinking, her immense skill at assessing perilous situations, and her frank courage. . . A captivating account of a remarkable woman."--Kirkus (starred review)

Author

© Getty Images
Sonia Purnell is a bestselling and prize-winning author celebrated for her lively writing style and meticulous research with a growing readership across the world. Her work has been optioned by several leading filmmakers, won fans from all walks of life from presidents to physicians and been translated into almost thirty languages. Readers write to her regularly on how they have drawn inspiration from her books, which have sold more than a million copies worldwide.

Her first work—the unauthorized biography of Boris Johnson called Just Boris: A Tale of Blond Ambition—was long listed for the Orwell prize in 2011. As the first to challenge his track record and integrity, it changed the national debate and remains the definitive biography. Purnell has become the go-to commentator at home and abroad on his rise to power and his record in office.
Her second book, First Lady in the UK and Clementine in the US, (a finalist for the Plutarch prize) revealed for the first time the vital role played in Winston Churchill's career by his wife Clementine. The book has subsequently shaped Clementine’s portrayal on screen, including in the Netflix series The Crown when she was played by Harriet Walter who has described Sonia’s writing as a “whirlwind of fresh air” that opens “a door . . . into a flood of sunlight.”

Purnell's third work, A Woman of No Importance, is the inspirational true-life tale of a female spy in WWII, Virginia Hall, a young American socialite with a wooden leg, who helped fan the flames of French Resistance. It became an instant New York Times Bestseller when published in 2019, remained on the list for many weeks, and won the prestigious Plutarch Prize for Best Biography in 2020. 

Her latest book Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction & Intrigue (Kingmaker: Pamela Churchill Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Seduction, Intrigue & Power in the UK) came out in September 2024 to huge critical and reader acclaim. It has been hailed as a Book of the Year by no fewer than fifteen media outlets from the Guardian to the Economist via the New Yorker.

Kingmaker is an electrifying reexamination of one of the twentieth century’s greatest unsung power players as well as an eye-popping tale of sex, money, politics and fabulous clothes. Previously written off as a courtesan and social climber, Pamela Harriman’s true legacy has been overshadowed by her infamous erotic adventures. Much of what she did behind the scenes to change the world has remained invisible and secret. That is, until now. View titles by Sonia Purnell

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