Excerpt from I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"You're claiming you engaged in illegal currency activity with an American teenager because your mother is afraid of the dark? Your mother's handicap has nothing to do with your crime. But punishment will extend to your entire family."

A crime? My entire family?

But I had never accepted the dollar. It just . . . appeared.

How did he even know about it?

The pleading refrains of my mother and sister appeared in chorus.

Don't tell anyone—­anything.

         Remember, Cristian, you never know who's listening.

                         Please, don't draw attention to our family.

I stared at the agent in front of me. A shivery sweat glazed my palms and an invisible moth flapped in my windpipe. In Romania, the Securitate carried more power than the military. This man could destroy us. He could put our family under increased surveillance. He could ruin my opportunity to attend university. He could have my parents fired. Or worse.

The agent leaned forward, placing his massive flesh rackets on the desk.

"I can see you've absorbed the severity of the situation. I'm told you're a strong student, talented, an observer among your peers. I'm feeling generous today."

He was letting me off with a warning. I exhaled with gratitude.

"Mulţumesc. I—­"

"You're thanking me? You haven't heard my proposal yet. It's simple and, as I said, very generous of me. You will continue to meet your mother and walk her home. You will continue your interactions with the son of the American diplomat. And you will report details of the diplomat's home and family to me."

It was not a proposal. It was an order, and one that compromised all principles of decency. I'd be a rat, a turnător, secretly informing on the private lives of others.

I could never tell my family. Constant deception. I should refuse. But if I refused, my family would suffer. I was sure of that. And then, amidst the silence, the agent made his final move.

"Say, how is your bunu?"

Şahmat. Checkmate. The simple mention weakened me.

He knew about my grandfather. Bunu was a light, full of wisdom and philosophy. Bunu knew of my interest in poetry and literature. He encouraged it. Quietly.

"They steal our power by making us believe we don't have any," said Bunu. "But words and creative phrases—­they have power, Cristian. Explore that power in your mind."

The stamp collection was Bunu's treasure. It had been our secret project for years.

We had other secrets. Like Bunu's leukemia. It stormed upon him so quickly.

"Don't tell anyone," begged our perpetually nervous mother.

We didn't have to. Anyone could see that an energetic, healthy man had suddenly turned gray and shriveled. He lifted the frying pan and his wrist snapped.

Paddle Hands cleared his throat. "It's a generous proposal. We'll work together. You give me information and I give you medicine for Bunu. He won't suffer."

And that's how it began.

I was Cristian Florescu. Code name "OSCAR."

A seventeen-­year-­old spy.

Excerpted from I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys. Copyright © 2022 by Ruta Sepetys. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.