Veterans Day (Intermediate)

(3) 4-6 Spy on History series. Illustrated by Scott Wegener. This novel, with occasional comics-style illustrations, covers the fascinating history of the Ghost Army: the group of American sound engineers and artists, including Sergeant Victor Dowd, that deceived the Germans in WWII by setting up elaborate fake tanks and troops. An attached envelope contains spycraft materials, which add extra hands-on appeal as readers solve a hidden mystery; historical note appended. Bib.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(2) 4-6 On the cusp of WWI, a group of Polish boys makes a game of stealing buttons from the changing cast of soldiers invading their village. Power-hungry and cruel group leader Jurek controls the contest; protagonist Patryk believes he can win and become a benevolent leader. Short, staccato sentences build dread, leading inexorably to tragedy. Readers are left with the consequences of one boy refusing to speak up.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(2) YA Seventh grader Justin struggles to cope with the ambiguous circumstances surrounding his Vietnam War veteran father's death and ultimately the unknowability of his intentions. Relying on a small circle of support, including his older brother, his best friend, his bus driver, and a local homeless man, Justin slowly comes to terms with his grief and begins to move toward healing. Chapters are a collection of unconnected but chronologically unfolding scenes, most of which bring the reader directly into the events without preamble. This deliberately disconcerting style conveys a perpetual and profound disequilibrium that mimics the protagonist's inability to cope with his daily life, school, friendships, and family while he grieves internally. Deeper themes of war, conflict, and religion, with quantum physics and local small-town Minnesota history factoring in, add depth to Justin's journey.

Reviewer: Eric Carpenter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2020

(2) 4-6 Translated by Sam Gordon. Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. This is a poignant story of war, loss, and resilience--and a child's need to know even painful truths. With her father fighting in WWI, five-year-old Rosalie sits at the back of her French-village school, hoping to learn to read her father's letters. When she breaks through to literacy, she learns a devastating if cathartic truth. De Fombelle's (Vango) spare text allows narrator Rosalie's fierceness to shine through. Arsenault's emotive art focuses on significant details.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(3) 4-6 Alternator Books: Heroes of World War II series. This series provides readers with insights beyond the usual recounting of battles and politics commonly found in juvenile WWII resources, focusing instead on more personal aspects of the war and on anecdotes of heroism. Maps and archival images enrich the clear, informative texts; periodic "Hero Highlight" and "STEM Highlight" sidebars provide interesting context and detail. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Alternator Books: Heroes of World War II titles: D-Day Invasion, World War II Resistance Fighters, Navajo Code Talkers, World War II Spies and Secret Agents, Attack on Pearl Harbor, and Japanese American Internment Camps.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) 4-6 Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales series. The Revolutionary War hero continues to distract his executioners in this eighth volume in the graphic-novel series. Here the focus is on the Frenchman Lafayette's participation in the Revolutionary War under General Washington; Hancock, Hamilton, and others make appearances. As always, irreverent humor makes a complicated story more accessible; readers will appreciate another compelling history lesson. Small panel illustrations and tiny type can be challenging. Bib.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) 4-6 Extreme luck--good and bad--runs in twelve-year-old Juniper Creedy's family thanks to a witch's curse placed on their ancestors, the Brothers Grimm. For example, three miracles saved Juni when she was born, but she suffers from debilitating asthma. And now her older brother, Connor, a soldier, has been declared missing in Afghanistan. While her parents and grandmother mourn, Juni holds out hope he'll return. She convinces Connor's best friend (and two of her own) to join her on an end-of-summer road trip to retrieve Connor's retired service dog. Juni believes that doing so, along with casting a magic spell and sacrificing something cherished, will help break the curse and, she hopes, miraculously bring Connor home. Holczer (The Secret Hum of a Daisy, rev. 7/14; Everything Else in the Universe, rev. 7/18) has crafted another heartrending story of familial loss, grief, and healing. Though the family's connection to the Grimms serves mainly as a convenient plot device, Juni does love fairy tales and storytelling, the latter woven into the narrative through memories of her brother and her grandmother's life story, which help tie the more magical aspects of this otherwise realistic novel together. The imagery-rich text ("Lately Juni felt like she was a horse with blinders and on the other side of those blinders were the right words to describe what was happening inside her") also places symbolic importance on deer, bees, and trees, enhancing the natural-world connection. Well-developed secondary characters help readers better understand Juni and the relationships she cherishes, while supporting her journey toward accepting the truth and finally letting go.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

(3) 4-6 Alternator Books: Heroes of World War II series. This series provides readers with insights beyond the usual recounting of battles and politics commonly found in juvenile WWII resources, focusing instead on more personal aspects of the war and on anecdotes of heroism. Maps and archival images enrich the clear, informative texts; periodic "Hero Highlight" and "STEM Highlight" sidebars provide interesting context and detail. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Alternator Books: Heroes of World War II titles: D-Day Invasion, World War II Resistance Fighters, Navajo Code Talkers, World War II Spies and Secret Agents, Attack on Pearl Harbor, and Japanese American Internment Camps.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) 4-6 An unlikely pair of seventh-grade misfits, Oliver and Ella must research and make a history-project documentary about Civil War soldier Raymond Stone. Oliver's lunch buddy Kevin assists as they unravel the mystery surrounding this (fictional) young soldier who never saw battle and died of dysentery at Gettysburg. The engaging narrative explores tween relationships and emphasizes that heroism has many forms beyond courage in battle.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) 4-6 British twelve-year-olds Aidan and Sally take Aidan's father's fishing boat and join the brigade of small civilian boats traversing the English Channel to save Allied soldiers trapped in Dunkirk. One of Aidan's brothers has been killed in the war, and another is among the troops he is trying to save. McDonough understatedly yet effectively relates the courage and resilience of the two young protagonists. Timeline. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) 4-6 In the summer of 1775, Washington arrives in Massachusetts to lead rebel forces against British troops occupying Boston. Orgill's free-verse poems span a year and feature the perspectives of ten historical figures (including Washington's "servant-slave") and one fictional boy. The extensively researched novel highlights a pivotal time in U.S. history and illuminates small moments in individual lives. Map. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) 4-6 Alternator Books: Heroes of World War II series. This series provides readers with insights beyond the usual recounting of battles and politics commonly found in juvenile WWII resources, focusing instead on more personal aspects of the war and on anecdotes of heroism. Maps and archival images enrich the clear, informative texts; periodic "Hero Highlight" and "STEM Highlight" sidebars provide interesting context and detail. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Alternator Books: Heroes of World War II titles: D-Day Invasion, World War II Resistance Fighters, Navajo Code Talkers, World War II Spies and Secret Agents, Attack on Pearl Harbor, and Japanese American Internment Camps.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(2) 4-6 Paterson's latest novel opens with Birdie (a nickname for Elizabeth) crying as her mother drives her father to the airport for his third deployment to Iraq. It's significant that Birdie is wearing an "I [heart] Jesus" shirt, because the bargain referred to in the book's title is one she has made with God to keep her father safe: "I'll stop acting like a jerk, if you'll start acting like God and take care of us for a change." To cut costs, the family moves in with Gran. The first person Birdie meets is fellow fifth-grader Alice Suggs, who comes on very aggressively, grabbing her arm and bragging that her father outranks Birdie's. Birdie doesn't enjoy being with her, but she remembers the Bible verse "Be ye kind, one to another" and continues to go to Alice's house and eat lunch with her at school. When Birdie's father is seriously injured in Iraq, she feels shocked and betrayed: "She was mad, so mad, mad at God, at Mom, at Gran, even at Daddy, at everything in the whole stinking world." As the protagonist copes first with the move and then with her crisis of faith, Paterson, using skillful omniscient narration, rounds the story with specific physical details and depicts the character's emotional arc with authenticity and empathy.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(1) 4-6 Mr. Bowles-Fitzpatrick, a British butler bequeathed to Carter's suburban American family, arrives on the boy's first day of middle school. He introduces Carter to the sport of cricket and the concepts of etiquette, responsibility, and knowing oneself. Schmidt lightens the otherwise tragic tale of Carter missing his deployed soldier father and dead brother by deftly incorporating comedic scenes and his trademark use of narrator-provided snark.

Reviewer: Eric Carpenter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2019

(3) 4-6 Medal of Honor series. Montgomery, a Cherokee first lieutenant fighting in Italy during World War II, and Pitts, an enlisted sergeant fighting in Afghanistan are two of approximately 3,500 American soldiers who have been awarded the Medal of Honor. These biographies, accompanied by context-setting sidebars and captioned black-and-white photographs, compellingly relate each soldier's heroic battlefield feats despite injuries, and recount their lives before and after. Bib., glos. Review covers these Medal of Honor titles: Jack Montgomery and Ryan Pitts.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) 4-6 Medal of Honor series. Montgomery, a Cherokee first lieutenant fighting in Italy during World War II, and Pitts, an enlisted sergeant fighting in Afghanistan are two of approximately 3,500 American soldiers who have been awarded the Medal of Honor. These biographies, accompanied by context-setting sidebars and captioned black-and-white photographs, compellingly relate each soldier's heroic battlefield feats despite injuries, and recount their lives before and after. Bib., glos. Review covers these Medal of Honor titles: Jack Montgomery and Ryan Pitts.

Reviewer: Jack Forman