War and Millie McGonigle
by Karen Cushman (Author)
The Newbery Award-winning author of Catherine, Called Birdy and The Midwife's Apprentice tells a heartfelt and humorous story of WWII on the homefront.
Millie McGonigle lives in sunny California, where her days are filled with beach and surf. It should be perfect--but times are tough. Hitler is attacking Europe and it looks like the United States may be going to war. Food is rationed and money is tight. And Millie's sickly little sister gets all the attention and couldn't be more of a pain if she tried. It's all Millie can do to stay calm and feel in control.
Still--there's sand beneath her feet. A new neighbor from the city, who has a lot to teach Millie. And surfer boy Rocky to admire--even if she doesn't have the guts to talk to him.
It's a time of sunshine, siblings, and stress. Will Millie be able to find her way in her family, and keep her balance as the the world around her loses its own?
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Publishers Weekly
Newbery Medalist Cushman melds historical detail and generous humor in this gently paced novel of family travails and sociopolitical tensions set in 1941 California. With the threat of war looming following the death of her beloved grandmother, 12-year-old Millie is determined to remember the departed, using a journal to record finds at San Diego's Mission Beach: "I had tides to watch and dead things to find." Millie's feelings of anxiety about global events are compounded by her white family's circumstances: food rations and her father's unemployment, her annoying little sister Lily's health, and having to share a bed with her "stink machine" middle-aged cousin, Edna, who used to live with her grandmother. Each chapter begins with a date, building momentum to December 7 and the attack on Pearl Harbor, an event that sends both her parents back to work and thrusts more responsibility on Millie. Cushman's relationships prove well grounded, and Millie's first-person voice effectively builds strength as she heals from her grandmother's death and embraces the future. Ages 8-12. Agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown Literary. (Apr.)
Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.School Library Journal
Gr 4-6--A fresh take on the classic home front, World War II middle grade novel. In beachy Southern California, Millie, who is white, worries about the news of the war in Europe while also coping with her family's financial stresses, her sister's illness, and a relative who recently moved in with the family. As the story moves toward Pearl Harbor and further into the war, Millie befriends a new girl from Chicago and sees how the war affects those who live in her town. Though some plot points are left unfinished or are not fully fleshed out, this is an authentic look at wartime through the eyes of a tween. The story brings in nuanced aspects of the era including the response to the draft, anti-Japanese racism, and social and labor issues that linger from the Great Depression. Readers will enjoy Millie's authentic voice and the scenes with her family and friends, as well as Millie's emotional growth after the death of her beloved grandmother. VERDICT A must-buy for school and children's libraries looking to expand their historical fiction selections.--Katie McBride Moench, New Glarus Middle and H.S. Lib., WI
Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV039240 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Depression & Mental Illness
JUV030060 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States
Families
Family life
World War, 1939-1945
California
Sisters
