The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

6) Do not spread rumors.
7) Lock away anything that might help the enemy if we are invaded.
“Like what?” Jamie asked. “Guns?”
“Yes, guns,” Susan said. “Lady Thorton, for example—her husband has a
whole roomful of guns for hunting game birds. She’ll need to hide those
away.
“We haven’t got anything here the enemy would want,” Susan continued.
“We don’t have anything dangerous or valuable.
“You aren’t to worry,” she said. “Even if the Germans do invade, they
won’t hurt children. They didn’t hurt the children in Norway or Holland.”
Somehow this didn’t make us feel better at all.
The rumor in the village was that Holland had been full of German spies,
sent in before the invasion to help it go smoothly. The spies were called “fifth
columnists.” I didn’t know why. Fresh posters went up on the wall by the
station, reminding us that England too might be full of spies. “Loose lips sink
ships,” the posters said.
Twenty-six ships had been sunk in March. Ten in April. It was fewer ships
than earlier because now fewer ships were trying to get through the German
blockade.
Jamie started wetting the bed again. Susan marched him over to the airfield
to talk to some of the soldiers, thinking they would reassure him. Instead, the
men told Jamie that of course there were spies in England. They told him that
children were often better than adults at noticing things and that he, Jamie,
needed to act like a soldier and keep a good lookout. They told him to report
back at once if he discovered anything unusual.
I didn’t think Susan expected the RAF to turn Jamie into a snoop, but,
anyway, he quit wetting the bed.
The government asked all the men who weren’t already in the army to
become Local Defence Volunteers. Stephen’s colonel was angry that he
couldn’t join. “A man shouldn’t be useless at a time like this,” he fumed.
“It’s not your fault you can’t see,” I told him. We’d run into them at the
library. Susan was picking out more books for me, and Stephen was looking
for things to read to the colonel.
“What difference does that make?” he said. “I still hate feeling helpless.
And the boy tried to join up, and they wouldn’t have him either.”