Hostetter, Joyce Moyer. Aim.

Hostetter, Joyce Moyer.  Aim.  Boyd’s Mills/Calkins Creek  2016       287p    $17.95  ISBN 978-1-62979-673-4     ms/hs  Historical fiction  VG-BN           

Growing up in Hickory, North Carolina, fourteen-year-old Junior Bledsoe has his insufferable paternal grandfather moving in with his family. Junior’s father and grandfather do not get along, but Junior has no idea why. Then, Junior suddenly loses his father, whose heart has given out. As if that’s not enough to deal with, Junior is struggling in school and with family and friends, and he is battling anger issues, all while World War II is raging overseas and threatening the United States.

In this heartwarming coming-of-age historical novel, readers will be entranced by the plot. The story is totally appealing to young readers who are in the midst of adolescence and transitioning into young adulthood. Although the setting is the World War II era, readers will understand and feel empathy for Junior, who is struggling with his emotions and his determination to find the truth about his father’s death and the reason for his cantankerous grandfather’s behavior.

In this prequel to Blue and Comfort, Joyce Moyer Hostetter has created a novel that will appeal to and engage its intended readership. Although it is a prequel, it also does well as a stand-alone book.
           

Summary: Growing up in Hickory, North Carolina, fourteen-year-old Junior Bledsoe has two problems: his insufferable paternal grandfather has moved in, and he suddenly loses his father. As if that’s not enough to deal with, he is struggling in school, with family and friends, and he is battling anger issues, all while World War II is raging overseas and threatening the United States.          

World War II-Fiction, Coming-of-age-Fiction                                                —Virginia McGarvey

Fombelle, Timothee de Prince. A Prince Without a Kingdom.

Fombelle, Timothee de Prince.  A Prince Without a Kingdom.  Candlewick Press  2014  443p  $17.99  ISBN 978-0-7636-7950-7  jr/sr  Historical fiction  VG-BN

The sequel to Vango: Between Sky and Earth, this book concludes Vango’s quest to find answers and ties up the loose ends for the many colorful characters involved in his tale.  It is an in-depth historical novel that takes the reader all over Europe and to America, touching on actual historical people and events, such as the explosion of the Hindenburg and the Nazi occupation of Paris and the resistance, while following the myriad paths of Vango’s friends, acquaintances, and enemies.  It does a rather wonderful job of covering events throughout Europe, rather than focusing solely on America or France, although a significant portion of the story occurs in these two places.  The revelations about numerous characters’ backgrounds are handled well, and revelations about Vango in particular were welcome when they were finally revealed to the reader, although this happened long before Vango himself would ever learn them.  The series concludes satisfactorily, leaving the reader with the feeling of having watched a somewhat more dynamic (and less iconic, it must be said) version of Casablanca.  It is important to note, however, that this book does NOT work as a stand-alone, and attempting to read it without reading its prequel will only result in confusion and frustration.                       

Summary: The sequel to Vango: Between Sky and Earth, this book concludes Vango’s quest to find answers and ties up the loose ends for the many colorful characters involved in his tale.

World War II-Fiction, Revenge-Fiction, Romance-Fiction      --Bethany Geleskie

Cerrito, Angela. The Safest Lie.

Cerrito, Angela.  The Safest Lie.  Holiday House  2015  180p  $16.95  ISBN 978-0-8234-3310-0  ms  Historical fiction  E-BN     

This novel follows the life of one young Jewish girl in Poland during the German occupation during World War Two, as she is moved from her family home to keep her safe from the Nazis.  Anna, who is only nine years old, must take on a new identity as a non-Jew and be housed first by a family in a safe house, then by nuns in a Catholic orphanage, and finally by another family that is involved in the Polish Resistance movement.  Moment by moment, the reader is drawn into Anna’s feelings and thoughts as she negotiates her difficult life and sticks to her assumed identity.  The story is based on the true story of a Polish woman who rescued children from the Nazis, and the author met and spoke with this person before writing the book.  Because of the excellent writing, the reader becomes intrigued with Anna and the other characters she encounters along her way, and feels a deep connection with her and with all the children who suffered as a result of the Holocaust and the war.      

Summary:  This novel follows the life of one young Jewish girl in Poland during the German occupation during World War Two, as she is moved from her family home to keep her safe from the Nazis.        

World War II-Fiction, Holocaust-Fiction                     --Carol Kennedy

Myers, Walter Dean. Invasion.

Myers, Walter Dean.  Invasion.  Scholastic Press      2013  205p  $17.99  ISBN 978-0-545-38428-5  ms/hs  Realistic fiction      E-BN

In the prequel to Fallen Angels and Sunrise Over Fallujah, Myers returns to World War II to introduce Marcus Perry, uncle and father to characters in his subsequent books, and to tell the story of Josiah Wedgewood, a young soldier who learns the horrifying nature of war first-hand.  What is most interesting about this book is the evolution of a man from innocent farm boy in Virginia to killer in Normandy.  Myers captures the feelings, friendships and suffering of war from Josiah’s viewpoint and places them in words for teen readers to comprehend.  In Josiah’s letters to his mother and Vernelle, his “wannabe” girl back home, we learn of a soldier’s need for emotional support.  In his budding friendship with Mink, Josiah shares his need for human connection, for someone to break the tension of the moment with a quote or an anecdotal story drawn from past life.  Myers’s research on actual participants in the Normandy invasion authenticates his writing.  Fans know about the battles, but with Invasion, Myers recognizes that they need more than that, and he pushes them into the minds of his soldiers.  He takes his time developing Josiah’s feelings as he experiences the changes of spirit that are a real part of warfare.  Readers will want to find out whether Josiah survives: that is what happens when an author writes masterfully. 

Summary: Country boy Josiah Wedgewood tells the story of the battle at Normandy’s beaches in 1944.  This prequel to Fallen Angels and Sunrise Over Fallujah introduces Marcus Perry, whose offspring provide the protagonists for books on the Vietnam war and the Iraqi war.       

World War Two-Fiction                                       --Martha Squaresky

Barrow, Randi. Finding Zasha.

Barrow, Randi.  Finding Zasha.      Scholastic Press  2013  343p  $16.99  ISBN 978-0-545-45218-2      ms/hs       Historical      VG-BN

Twelve-year-old Ivan has escaped from the Siege of Leningrad, but when the town he has taken refuge in is occupied by Hitler’s troops, he sees his chance to help the partisans he has met -- and to rescue two German shepherd puppies, Zasha and Thor, from the cruel Commander Recht.  Barrow’s debut novel, Saving Sasha (2011), was a compelling historical fiction novel and dog story that won many honors.  Finding Zasha is the prequel to that book, and it delivers another exciting story set in World War II Soviet Russia.

Ivan lives in Leningrad with his mother.  He loves music and has formed an ensemble in which he sings and plays the concertina.  When the Germans lay siege to the city, Ivan’s mother sends the 12-year-old on a hazardous trek to stay with a relative in the countryside.  Through a series of harrowing experiences and misadventures, Ivan ends up in another village occupied by Germans.  Major Recht, the commanding Nazi officer, hears Ivan play music, and brings him to camp to provide entertainment for himself and his soldiers.  Ivan grabs the opportunity to assist the Partisans, who are working secretly to undermine the Germans.  When the opportunity arises, Ivan escapes the Nazi camp and rescues Recht’s likeable puppies from  a brutal training program intended to transform them into killer attack animals that will hunt down Russians.

Major Recht, already sadistic and vengeful, will stop at nothing to retrieve his prized dogs. Unaware that Sasha has gone missing, the German officer vindictively pursues Ivan for many years, even after the war has ended.  The resulting story is a gripping animal tale, historical novel, and adventure, all rolled into one.  Readers who have not done so will want to read the companion volume, Saving Sasha, although Finding Sasha stands well on its own. 

Dogs-Fiction, World War II-Fiction, Soviet Union-History-Fiction. 

                                                            -–Hilary Welliver