GRACE BANKER AND HER HELLO GIRLS ANSWER THE CALL

An overlooked hero of World War I is given her due.

In a more innocent time, when going to war was considered an adventure, Grace Banker answered the U.S. Signal Corps’ call for women telephone operators. College educated when women generally weren’t and already training switchboard operators at 25, she was named chief operator of a group known as the Signal Corps Girls and sent overseas to connect military calls from England to France, sometimes from secret locations. Quotes from Banker’s diary and letters accompany Friddell’s straightforward, descriptive text, bringing to life her dedication, humor, and fearlessness. Baddeley’s appealing, comics-style illustrations provide a strong sense of time and place, depicting the White protagonist amid a mostly but not all-White cast; some of the doughboys are soldiers of color. The focus is on her accomplishments and the positive aspects of her story; the tale ends with a return home with headlines full of praise and a distinguished service medal while the endnotes reveal that women in her position were not recognized as service members and were not seen as veterans eligible for benefits until 1977, after her death. Overall, this overlooked piece of history—the role of women during World War I—is presented in engaging detail, and the result is a captivating depiction of a smart, spirited woman who found a way to use her skills and intelligence to benefit her country in an unexpected way. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 67.5% of actual size.)

An absorbing look at one woman’s achievements during World War I.