Stealing Freedom: Nothing is simple in love and war.

AWARDS: 2022 Winner of the Reader’s Favorite Award 2022 Winner of the Finalist Division of the National Indie Excellence Book Awards “STEALING FREEDOM is a coming of age saga that is both sweeping in its scope and staggering in its storytelling, all set on a Greek island in 1935. Within these pages, readers will encounter forbidden love, secret societies, and a girl striving for freedom but finding it has many faces.Leontaritis’s debut novel pulls neglected history through the cracks of time and gives it to us anew.” –Autumn Krause, author of A Dress for the Wicked “I was totally immersed in Sylvia Leontaritis’s book Stealing Freedom. Leontaritis’s descriptions of the beautiful Greek island and culture swept me away to a different place and time. Popi is a strong female character who cherishes her culture’s traditions but is not afraid to push the boundaries as a young woman with a passion. I loved so many things about this book; the unique way that messages were passed, the realization that people are often more complicated than we think, and the importance of cherishing the old but embracing the new. Popi and her brother Kosta come of age in a dangerous and challenging time. Leontaritis tells their story authentically with all the range of emotions that entails. She captures the overwhelming feeling that first love brings as well. Stealing Freedom is an outstanding historical fiction novel that will have readers eagerly turning the pages.” –Kristine Zimmerman, Reader’s Favorite Award Review March, 1935. Everything about sixteen-year-old Popi Kapsulis’s life has changed thanks to the rumors of another Great War on the horizon. The Italian Forces have already closed the schools and churches on Popi’s small Greek island of Kalymnos, forced her people to learn Italian, and are now burning businesses to the ground–all in an effort to rebuild the island they’ve come to occupy. Life has become unbearable and Popi can only think of one thing: freedom. When Popi joins the Resistance, she rallies other island girls and forms a secret knitting society. Her plan is simple: she and the other girls will spy on the Italian troops and knit the intel into doilies using Morse code. The doilies will then be passed on to the Resistance to decode and take action. Her plan has the power to change the course of history, and as Popi’s espionage starts making a difference, freedom feels within her grasp. Until she meets Emmanuel. Falling in love with the enemy was not part of her plan. Neither was getting caught. Before Popi knows it, everything she loves–her family, her friends, her life, and the freedom she has fought so hard for–is suddenly hanging by a thread.