Editor Armstrong (Theodore Roosevelt, p. 104, etc.) compiles a subtle and wrenching assortment of stories about war and its effects on children—particularly poignant in light of the events of September 11th. Familiar and lesser-known young adult authors cover the Civil War, WWI and WWII, the Cold War, and Vietnam, as well as conflicts in Central and South America and the Middle East. The stories are remarkable not only for their depth, but also for how much they avoid cliché and truly delve into the long-term consequences of war on children. One addresses the issue of the conscientious objectors to US involvement in Vietnam through the eyes of a young Quaker’s friends and family. Another tells of the librarian in a small town who is accused of being a Communist during the days of the Cold War and how this false statement affects her son. Yet another describes the slightly impaired son of a Vietnam veteran (readers assume he suffered from the effects of Agent Orange) and how his father’s grim experiences as a soldier shaped his childhood. Each features a line of factual information relating to the particular war running across the bottom of the pages. This tactic is helpful in placing the story in context, but the main narrative is usually so strong that it’s easy to overlook the line. Armstrong also includes a very personal introduction, detailing her reasons for compiling this collection. Authors provide biographical information and some background for their story at the back. This volume would be a valuable addition to a school library and would be especially useful in a social studies/history classroom, where it could be used several times as the different time periods are taught. It would also be a meaningful read-aloud for junior-high classes. An outstanding collection important at any time. (Short stories. 10-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-375-81112-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2001
A promising debut.
The horrors of the Guatemalan civil war are filtered through the eyes of a boy coming of age.
Set in Chopán in 1981, this verse novel follows the life of Carlos, old enough to feed the chickens but not old enough to wring their necks as the story opens. Carlos’ family and other villagers are introduced in early poems, including Santiago Luc who remembers “a time when there were no soldiers / driving up in jeeps, holding / meetings, making / laws, scattering / bullets into the trees, / hunting guerillas.” On an errand for his mother when soldiers attack, Carlos makes a series of decisions that ultimately save his life but leave him doubting his manliness and bravery. An epilogue of sorts helps tie the main narrative to the present, and the book ends on a hopeful note. In her debut, Brown has chosen an excellent form for exploring the violence and loss of war, but at times, stylistic decisions (most notably attempts at concrete poetry) appear to trump content. While some of the individual poems may be difficult for readers to follow and the frequent references to traditional masculinity may strike some as patriarchal, the use of Spanish is thoughtful, as are references to local flora and fauna. The overall effect is a moving introduction to a subject seldom covered in fiction for youth.
A promising debut. (glossary, author Q&A) (Verse/historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6516-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
An engaging novel-in-poems that imagines one earnest, impassioned teenage girl’s experience of the Japanese-American...
Crystal-clear prose poems paint a heart-rending picture of 13-year-old Mina Masako Tagawa’s journey from Seattle to a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II.
This vividly wrought story of displacement, told from Mina’s first-person perspective, begins as it did for so many Japanese-Americans: with the bombs dropping on Pearl Harbor. The backlash of her Seattle community is instantaneous (“Jap, Jap, Jap, the word bounces / around the walls of the hall”), and Mina chronicles its effects on her family with a heavy heart. “I am an American, I scream / in my head, but my mouth is stuffed / with rocks; my body is a stone, like the statue / of a little Buddha Grandpa prays to.” When Roosevelt decrees that West Coast Japanese-Americans are to be imprisoned in inland camps, the Tagawas board up their house, leaving the cat, Grandpa’s roses and Mina’s best friend behind. Following the Tagawas from Washington’s Puyallup Assembly Center to Idaho’s Minidoka Relocation Center (near the titular town of Eden), the narrative continues in poems and letters. In them, injustices such as endless camp lines sit alongside even larger ones, such as the government’s asking interned young men, including Mina’s brother, to fight for America.
An engaging novel-in-poems that imagines one earnest, impassioned teenage girl’s experience of the Japanese-American internment. (historical note) (Verse/historical fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8075-1739-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
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