Across the Blue Pacific

I came across Across the Blue Pacific: A World War II Storywhile researching age appropriate picture books on World War II for kids. This story appealed to me because it sounded so much like the stories my mother told me of growing up during World War II. This historical fiction account is told from a young girl's perspective, which is why it reminds me so much of my Mom's stories of growing up.

Louise Borden has taken the story of her Uncle Matthew's service and death on the USS Albacore as the basis for Molly's historical fiction account of her neighbor Ted's service and ultimate death. His leave visits and the children writing letters to Ted make for an interesting tale.

I thought there were some fun details included in the story. For instance Ted's Mom gets a Border Collie when her son leaves for war. How women coped alone made for some unique war tales among the women in my family. The dog seemed like a realistic choice based on some of the stories I was told.

While this was a children's story, I did think some details were lacking. Molly and my Mom were similar in age and one of my Mom's strongest memories of the time was coping with rationing. I suspect her neighbor and Molly's families would also have been impacted by this as well. There was no mention of how the war changed the home front, although this book was focused on how people at home were dealing with the challenges of having loved ones away from home.

This book would be a good introduction to teaching children about the home front during this time period. Children often connect well to other children. Reading about how other children lived through historical events can help children relate and connect to a topic. I'd love to see more books written in this style.

George Washington's Spy

George Washington's Spy (Time Travel Adventures)is the time traveling sequel to George Washington's Socks (Time Travel Adventures)
which I reviewed earlier.

This sequel has the children returning to the Revolutionary War, but to a time before their previous visit. This time the boys have been assigned to read about Washington's fortifications at Dorchester Heights, but before they can complete the assignment, the boat arrives allowing them to live the assignment.

Perhaps the author realized the book needed more girls, because in this story while the boys are camping out, Katie is staying with a group of girls next door and when they don't believe her about having met George Washington, she becomes determined to show them where the boat is stored and the adventure begins.

The author wants to provide the reader with a chance to see life in Boston from a Tory or loyalist perspective and that of a Patriot or rebel one. To do this she splits up the boys and the girls. Katie's foot is hurt in the journey. While the boys head off to find help, Patriots capture them and the girls are taken in and cared for by a Tory family who mistakes them for the children of British aristocracy. This split allows the author to provide more insight and perhaps some balance in telling the story of the evacuation of Boston.

As I mentioned in my review of Woodruff's previous book, her novels provide great background knowledge for children with the added draw of fantasy. However, they can be graphic. In this novel, we see how the tensions between the Tories and the Patriots play out and it can be harsh. While many students may have heard of tar and feathering, the author personalizes it when the Tory father of the girls that rescue Matt's friends is tarred and feathered and dies in Matt's arms. As in the first book, Matt is led to question his belief that one side is good and the other evil in this conflict. In a similar situation, the same father is afraid to have his Patriot brother-in-law in his house for fear of what the British soldiers would do to his family, even though his personal loyalties are clear. He ultimately is killed for them. Through the character's eyes, we see that the situation is complicated.

I thought this was an important topic that is not often addressed, especially in children's literature. While the Sons of Liberty is given credit for getting the movement started, there was also a fear that without controls the mob could turn the Revolution into a mob action. Surviving Tories and Patriots would live to see what unchecked mob violence would accomplish during the French Revolution. The fears were not realized here, but many Tories and Patriots both had reasons to fear that the potential existed. While Hancock and other Boston merchants backed the cause of freedom, they also knew they had to restore order or chaos would destroy them, too.

Living in New England, I've always been aware of the story of Dorchester Heights and the evacuation of Boston. In fact while most people get confused, Boston does not have a city holiday for St. Patrick's Day, it is technically Evacuation Day in Boston. The city celebrates the day the troops left. What this book addresses that I never thought much about is who left. I knew the troops boarded ships and left, but they didn't just abandon Tory families to their fate, they helped them leave, too. I knew many families immigrated to Canada and some back to England after the Revolution. However, I never thought about it in relation to the evacuation of Boston. While some stayed, it was quite dangerous for those that did. Many Tories already facing mob attacks with British protection, feared death without any military protection. They left under British naval protection. Some settled in Canada, others moved to colonies still under British protection, and others who had the resources returned to England. To illustrate the rush to evacuate our characters almost end up immigrating to Halifax. They manage to get off the boat and once again, Katie saves the day when she spies the boat.

As always, I suggest parents or teachers review the book before using. However, I think this is a great resource for providing children with the historical background on the evacuation of Boston and a historical perspective on life for the Tories during this time.

George Washington's Sock's

I am always looking for titles that will engage children in learning more about history and I find titles that can combine fantasy or science fiction with history have a good chance at engaging reluctant readers to at least try reading them. George Washington's Socks (Time Travel Adventures)fills that need.

One challenge with this model is making the story believable. Fantasy requires the reader to suspend disbelief, but some children's fantasy requires children to ignore main parts of the story, to get to the parts of the story that they want to enjoy. In time travel stories, this is often the worst challenge. In this case, the author employs a very old oral tradition of boats disappearing into the mist and travelers being lost in the mists of time. Not only does it attach to a long oral tradition of stories, but the author also ties it the children discovering that there is a history of people disappearing in their town. They discover the answer to the mystery as part of their own time travel adventure. I was impressed with the smoothness of the time travel in this book.

In the author notes, a comment is made that one of the motivations for writing this book is that the author is a pacifist who had a son enamored with GI Joe. She wanted him to understand the realities of war. It states with her research she came away with an understanding of the strength and courage of those who fought. While this book looks like a slightly longer version of a Magic Tree House time travel book, it is a bit more realistic. Two soldiers, one American and one Hessian are killed and the author is graphic in describing some of the issues of dying most students likely don't encounter when thinking of death. If the author notes are accurate, this may have been done to help her son understand the realities of war.

Another strength of the book is it allows children to see a glimpse of life for soldiers on both sides of the war. At one point, the main character Matthew realizes that there is good and bad on both sides. There are no clean wars. As a modern child, he is the eyes for the reader showing them how the soldiers survived and died. As with all time travel stories, there are some stretches of the imagination, but for the most part they are handled well. In places the author does well simplifying complicated political and military situations and in other places, she over simplifies and complicates the story. However, it is the strongest book of this genre I have read. As always I suggest parents preview the book if they have any concerns.

I liked the book. It starts with a realistic premise, boys starting a club and camping out. While not every child has a fascination with American history, I am sure there are lots of kids who do have non-traditional interests who would love to have a group of friends to hang out with and discuss their interests. I like the idea that the book doesn't assume it is weird to have academic interests. I think that aspect could be a draw for some students.

Girls will be less than thrilled that the only female character is a nagging little sister. However, she does end up a hero. Without her help, they might never have made it home. That might excuse her earlier weaker role.

Detectives in Togas

Detectives in Togas combines historical fiction with mystery to create a fun children's novel. I find historical fiction is a great way to supplement the study of history. When an author finds a way to combine another genre with historical fiction it just increases the ability to draw children in to reading it.

This is another republished older book. The original publication date was 1956. It is still in print and available for purchase.

Detectives in Togas is the story of Roman students and their teacher trying to solve the mystery of an attack on their teacher and graffiti that has appeared on a Roman Temple. One of their classmates is jailed for the crime because of actions that occurred during class.

As the mystery unfolds, the reader learns more about Roman society, government, and history. The book is more meaningful if students have some background and knowledge of Roman history, but it can be read as a mystery without too much additional research.

I will be looking for the sequel at the library. It appears the boys are in trouble again. One of their fathers is in danger of being assassinated.

Day of Glory the Guns at Lexington and Concord

Edited June 5, 2018 to add I went looking for this book to use with a family member and much to my delight discovered it is available now as a Kindle e-book with the original cover art.


I thought about reviewing Day of Glory: The Guns at Lexington and Concordtoo late to request the book from the library in time to reread and write a review in time for Patriot's Day. It did remind me to put a request into our local library for the book.

The book was originally published in 1955 and picked up as a Scholastic Book selection in the 1970's. At some point Scholastic printed the book again in the 1990's under their Apple Paperback brand. I have not been able to locate a date because the library copy I borrowed still lists the original 1955 copyright date.

The story is a historical fiction account of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The book is formatted in hour chapters beginning at 7PM the night before the battle and ending at 7PM the day of the battle. The book is historical fiction because it attempts to provide more emotional and personal details and create a story line to guide the readers through the events. This is what makes this novel a great book to accompany what can be dry historical accounts of the battle itself. Students can and should be asked to verify information for accuracy.

What I liked about this book is that it does not only focus on Lexington and Concord and the generic Minutemen who fought. It discusses the towns and locations where the volunteers came from to fight. While I was aware of many of these stories, I think it is important for students to hear them. Not all the Minutemen arrived at Lexington. It took time for the news of the Regulars arrival to get to these towns, the men to assemble, and then travel to the areas. This book does a good job explaining how the residents learned of the British troop movements and the journeys required to make it to the battle locations. It also explains the British plans and movements that are rarely addressed in most children's historical accounts of the battle.

This book is not currently in print, but it is commonly available in used books sites and as I demonstrated your public library. As with all resources, I suggest reading it yourself before using it with your children. This story would make a good read aloud in conjunction with other non-fiction historical accounts.

If you can find the original book, the cover art is better. The original cover depicts an artistic view of the Minutemen walking. The Apple cover is of children and is less focused on the content of the novel. The cover is hardly essential to the content of the writing.

Additional Links:

Acton Minutemen

Danvers Alarm List

Menotomy Minutemen

Minuteman National Park

Sudbury Minutemen

Caddie Woodlawn's Family

This book is marketed as a sequel to the Newberry Medal winner Caddie Woodlawn. It was originally published under the title Magic Melons. I suspect it was reissued under Caddie Woodlawn's Family to capatilize on the popularity of Caddie Woodlawn which is still found on many reading lists.

The word sequel is misleading. Sequel generally implies that the book takes off from where the first book ends. This book reminds me more of DVD deleted scenes that are often found in the extra sections.

The original Caddie Woodlawn is a mix of a central plot and individual family stories tied together. The blend makes for an interesting story. The sequel fails to achieve that balance.

This story seems to be the edited scenes that did not make it into the original book. Like the extra scenes on a DVD, you do find some gems. There are a few of these scenes that you wish had made it into the movie. These scenes tell you something about the characters or the plot that you would have liked to have seen in the movie. It is not hard to understand why most of the scenes have been deleted. The book is a compilation of stories that did not make it into the original Caddie Woodlawn. A few are gems that are worth reading. It is not hard to understand why the rest were edited out of the original novel.

There is a wonderful story about Caddie's sisters Hetty and Minnie's encounter with a neighbor. Another story gives background information on the Circuit Rider introduced in the first novel.

This story also demonstrates the need for editing and revising. The controversy over the Little House series ignores the strength and importance of editing and revision. I have not seen any controversy regarding Carol Ryrie Brink's authorship of these novels. However, the same arguments that were used against Laura could be used to question Ms. Brinks. Her first novel is very tight and strong. The Newberry award reflects the hard work to create a solid novel. The second book seems like someone published the edits of the first book as a second book. The first book reflects the importance of strong editing and revision. The second demonstrates that even an author can use the same material and characters and not have a positive outcome.

One of the positive aspects of this book was the chance to visit Caddie’s sisters who are mostly ignored in the first book. We get a chance to see Clara as a real person and not a stereotypical character presented in the first book. We see Hetty as a child with independent interests and an independent character in the second novel. Caddie seems to disappear in this novel. She is a much flatter character. She is not the vibrant, intelligent, engaging character of the first novel. These contradictions led me to ponder about the editing and revisions that led to the award winning first novel.

Snow Treasure

I have been doing lots of book reviews lately, but one of the reasons I taught was I loved children's literature and introducing great books to kids. Snow Treasurewas a book that was handed down to me by my older brother. He originally got it for $.50 from a Scholastic Book Club order. The book has been in and out of print over the years. I have bought it new when I could for presents and given used copies when that was the only option available.

When I read it the story was printed as a factual story of children in Norway helping the adults remove gold from Norway's banks to boats for shipment before the Nazi's could seize it. Later research could not confirm the student's participation. The story was then labeled historical fiction. Either way it is an interesting read for children about facing challenges in a hostile environment. Children who have read more modern realistic fiction might wonder why the author is not more explicit about the physical and emotional challenges faced by the children, but I still find that a plus about the book. Those who understand the history of the time do realize the risks the children and their families are taking. Children with less exposure to the history of the time can enjoy an adventure story.

The story takes place as the Norwegians are preparing to move their gold out of the reach of Nazi Germany during the invasion of Norway. The Nazi's clearly have arrived quicker than the Norwegians had feared and now the plans must be altered. Here is where the children are employed. Adults would clearly be noticed and potentially treated as spies or saboteurs. Children out sledding could perhaps pull off a daring feat and transport gold bars to an area where the gold can be loaded on to a ship. Adults and children find clever uses for snowmen and must find ways to keep the children out of school long enough to finish the gold transport before the Nazi's discover the purpose of all this outdoor activity. Still one of my favorite WWII adventure books for kids.