Allies by Alan Gratz

Beginning just before dawn on June 6th, 1944 and ending close to midnight on the same day, Gratz weaves together six unrelated perspectives that bring the D-Day landings to life in all its chaotic, grim reality.



Private Dee Carpenter is a 16-year-old who lied about his age to get into the Army, but since they needed soldiers, the Army looked the other way. Dee and Sid Jacobstein became friends right from the start in boot camp. But Dee wonders what Sid, a Jewish American, would think if he found out Dee's truth.



Samira Zidane, 11, and  her mother Kenza are French Algerians working in the French Resistance. Six hours before the invasion begins, mother and daughter are on their way to deliver an important message about the invasion to the Resistance when Kenza is arrested and taken into custody by the Nazis. Samira delivers the message, and is determined to find and help her mother escape her captors.



James McKay, 19 and Sam Tremblay, a Cree Indian, are in the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and about to jump into the midst of the invasion. James decided to join the army after his home town of Winnipeg staged a mock Nazi invasion. Now, though, he is wondering what he is doing parachuting into France on D-Day. His pal Sam, despite being promoted to Lance Corporal, still faces insults and microaggressions as a First Person from the other men, who are white.



Bill Richards, 19, from Liverpool, England is a Private in the Royal Dragoons, and a tank driver just like his dad was in WWI. Bill was named after and is obsessed with William the Conquerer and determined to get to get to Bayeux, France to see the famous Bayeux Tapestry. But he was also obsessed with getting to Amiens, France where his father had carved "Jack Richards was here 1918" on a stone, and Bill was determined to add his name underneath.



Corporal Henry Allen, 20, is an African American medic in the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion. And even though the United States military is segregated, Henry is on Omaha Beach, risking his life, dodging bullets and racist comments to save the lives of the mostly white soldiers shot and injured as the D-Day landings happen.



Monique Marchand, a 13-year-old French girl with an interest in medicine, was swimming with friends on Normandy Beach the day before the D-Day and ended up in the swimming hut on the beach during the invasion because of a forgotten bathing suit. When she notices an injured soldier, she leaves the hut to help him and that's when she meets Dorothy Powell, an American journalist for Collier's Magazine, there to write about the invasion.



There's not much more to say about this incredible book without giving too much away. Some of the people will live to see the end of the day, others won't, but all contribute to giving a broad view of this important day and what it was like. And Gratz doesn't hold back, so just know this is not a book for the faint at heart.



One of the things I really liked was how Gratz divided the day into the names of different operations. He explains in the back matter that some of the operation names are real, and some he made up to fit the story. Either way, it gives the reader a real sense of time passing and what might have happened. But be sure to read the Back Matter where you will find so much more information.



Gratz also includes a map to give readers a sense of place, since some of the landing units ended up in the wrong beach in all the chaos.

Click to enlarge

WOW! Allies is a great work of historical fiction by a great storyteller. I found myself spellbound from the first word of Allies to the last, but then again, I had the same experience with Gratz's other books, namely Prisoner 1065, Refugee, and Grenade.



This book is recommended for readers age 9+

Thank you, Scholastic Press, for providing me with a copy of this book.

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I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937 (I Survived Series #13) by Lauren Tarshis, illustrated by Scott Dawson

It's Monday, May 3rd, and Hugo Ballard, 11, is about to embark on an exciting journey flying from Germany to New Jersey on the Hindenburg, one of two zeppelins crossing the Atlantic Ocean in 1937. Hugo had already had one big adventure, living in Kenya with his mom, dad, and younger sister Gertie for a year. But now Gertie is sick with malaria and needs to get home to NYC for the right medicine as quickly as possible and the zeppelin could get the family there in only three days.



The Hindenburg is big, almost as big as the Titanic, but it's a highly flammable gas, hydrogen, that gets the zeppelin off the ground and flying. And that's a pretty scary thought for Hugo and Gertie, but almost immediately, Hugo makes a new friend, Martha Singer, or Marty as she prefers. Marty is a zeppelin pro, this is her eight Atlantic crossing in one, thanks to her dad who works for the company. "It's magical" she tells Hugo, and indeed, it seems to be so. Even Gertie is looking and feeling better.



The next morning, Tuesday, May 4th, at breakfast, however, Hugo's good feelings about being on the smooth-riding zeppelin with a new friend are somewhat diminished by the appearance of Nazi Colonel Joseph Kohl, known for his viciousness (even Gertie thinks he looks like a snake) and two other Nazi officers. When they leave, one of the passengers says that he believes the Nazis are looking for a spy on board the zeppelin.



On Wednesday, May 5th, the day before the zeppelin is scheduled to arrive at the airfield in New Jersey, Mr. Singer offers to show Hugo and his dad around the ship, even taking them into its main body, usually off limits to passengers. While there, Mr. Singer hears a terrible, unfamiliar growling noise. Alarmed, he starts to call the ship's captain, when Hugo realizes it is none other than their dog, Panya, who was put into the cargo hold for the trip. But their tour is interrupted with news that Gertie is once again very sick. After a long, scary night, Gertie's finally fever breaks and the only thing she wants is Panya.



But when Hugo sneaks down to get the dog, he sees someone else there. Is this the spy who is sneaking German secrets back to the United States? Apparently Colonel Kohl thinks so, too. After threatening Hugo with his gun, he manages to get away and get Panya to Gertie. But does an even deadlier fate await the Ballad family when the Hindenburg suddenly erupts in flames while landing?

A WWI Recruiting Poster

I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937 is, like all the I Survived books, very exciting with themes of courage, resilience, and the importance of family. And Tarshis is genius at being able to weave these into a gripping tale in the midst of a dangerous historical event without distorting any of the history. She has included lots of information within the story about zeppelins, how they work and their use, even during World War I when they were used to drop bombs on civilians in both France and England. I knew airplanes were used for that, but I didn't know about zeppelins.



Nor does she shy away from Nazi violence or cruelty and yet it is never gratuitous. In this novel, Colonel Kohl is portrayed as the kind of cold-blooded Nazi who would not think twice about shooting Hugo to get what he wants. But Tarshis also always makes sure to surround her protagonist with kind people, too, as she does here with Hugo's parents, Mr. Singer, and Marty. And her protagonists are also kind people. Hugo risks a lot to make his sister happy, but he knows what he has to do. And when the ship erupts in flames, his first thought is how to save his family.



Tarshis has also included even more information about zeppelins and the Hindenburg disaster in her back matter, beginning with the question "Would you want to ride on a zeppelin? To which my answer would be unequivocally no, thank you, although I do appreciate the excitement and spectacular views of such a ride. There is also a section about the possibilities of why the Hindenburg disaster happened (to this day, no one knows), More Hindenburg Facts, and a Selected Bibliography.



I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937 is one of four books that are focused on World War II, beginning with I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941, I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944, and I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944. Each excellent and informative, and age appropriate.



This book is recommended for readers age 7+

This book was provided to me by the publisher, Scholastic Press



If you would like to know more about zeppelins, be sure to visit airships.net



And if you are curious about what Hugo saw on his tour of the Hindenburg, this is the best example of the inside of it I could find (you can even see the catwalk where Hugo had to walk to get Panya for Gertie):

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My Best Friend: The Evacuee by Sally Morgan, illustrated by Gareth Conway

Young readers can follow two friends as they experience the first year and a half of World War II in completely different circumstances in this epistolary chapter book and discover just what it was like for kids at that time.



Londoners Harriet Hale, 11, and Teddy (Edward) Wilson, 10, have always been best friends and comic book lovers. In fact, they have even been working on their own comic book for a while now, working on it inside the Anderson shelter in Harriet's backyard. But Teddy has a secret and Harriet doesn't find out what it is until she receives a letter on 1st August 1940 and learns that her best friend has been evacuated to America. What a blow! Not only that, but he took Harriet's newest Beano comic book with him.



Meanwhile, Harriet is left in London, and although most of the other kids there have been evacuated to the countryside, Harriet is staying home with her mum. Soon, Harriet and Teddy begin corresponding with each other and their letter exchange is how readers learn what is going on in their lives.



Remaining in London means that Harriet must contend with the fear that Hitler is getting ready to invade the England. And that means that he has already begun to heavily boob London, even Buckingham Palace takes a hit. But for Harriet, the scariest is when the Underground shelter she and her mum are in takes a direct hit, and people begin stampeding out of the shelter, scaring her enough that for a while she refuses to shelter in the Underground whenever the air raid sirens go off.



For Teddy, life in Dayton, Ohio with the Mayer family isn't very eventful, but there is plenty to eat and no fear of invasion or bombs. There is also baseball, and while it's not cricket, it's still kind of fun for him. But even though the Mayer family really likes him, Teddy can't help but feel homesick. At first he believed he would be home by Christmas, but when that didn't happen the time stretched out longer and longer, until finally in 1945, he can return home.



The aren't many chapter books written about World War II, so I'm always curious to read one when I find it. I found My Best Friend: The Evacuee to be chock full of factual information and presented in such a way that an 11 year old would experience what is happening around them. Beside that direct hit on the Underground station where Harriet was, readers will learn how Teddy was able to be evacuated to America, and why that program had to be stopped when one of the ships was torpedoed in the Atlantic by a German submarine.



Sally Morgan has really captured the intensity of Harriet's fear and Teddy's homesickness, and has packed this story with historical facts that really make it an interesting work. It is a story that was written to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the start of WWII this year, and it is an excellent work for introducing young readers to this dark period on two different home fronts, without graphic descriptions. I like that Morgan pays homage to the women who did so much for the war effort, include Harriet's Aunt Lucy, who loves puzzles and is clearly working at code breaking at Bletchley, and her sister who may or may not be a land girl, but is definitely working on a farm.



There is lots of back matter, including a WWII timeline, and brief bios of relevant people from history who are mentioned in this book. 



My Best Friend: The Evacuee is an excellent addition to WWII books for young readers.



This book is recommended for 7+

This book was sent to me by the author, Sally Morgan

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I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944 (I Survived Series #18) by Lauren Tarshis

Lauren Tarshis's I Survived series has introduced young readers to a variety of significant, but scary events that have occurred in both recent and distant history through a young eyewitness protagonist. With the same themes of courage and resilience the protagonist didn't realize they possessed, they become active participants in these events, providing the reader with an exciting fast-paced story and lots of historical background information. In her latest book, Tarshis takes her readers to France's Normandy coast just before and after the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944.



Living there in the town of Le Roc, Paul Colbert, 11, has waited and waited for the Allied Forces to come and rescue France from the hands of the Nazis and end the war. After France had fallen to the Nazis in 1940, his father had been arrested and sent to a German prison camp; then his best friend Gerard and his family were arrested by the Nazis because they were Jewish and had disappeared. Later, Paul had seen his favorite teacher, Mr. Leon, being pursued and shot by Nazi soldiers for being in the resistance, and he watched in horror as his hero sank into a river.



But just as he is beginning to lose hope, it's Paul's turn to be a hero when he discovers an American paratrooper caught in a tree and injured. Paul knows that helping this man is dangerous if the Nazis catch him, especially with Nazis soldiers nearby looking for the paratrooper. But despite his fear, Paul climbs the tree and frees the American, whose name he learns is Sergeant Victor Lopez. But now, the wounded Victor needs a safe place to hide and Paul knows just where to take him. The old, crumbling Castle Le Roc isn't a place anyone wants to be in, what with the all the stories that told about it, and Paul knows how to get there so the Nazis don't discover them. So, imagine Paul's surprise when they are greeted at the castle by a man pointing a rifle at them.



Little does Paul realize that he has stumbled into a resistance hideout and that his life is about to change. Not only does he discover Mr. Leon is still alive and working for the resistance, but so is his mother. At the moment, resistance fighters all over France are waiting for the code that will let them know the D-Day invasion, what Mr. Leon called "the largest invasion by sea in the history of the world," is happening. And now even Paul has a part to play in it.



I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944 was written to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 2019. It is the 18th novel in the I Survived series and like the 17 that came before it, it is an exciting novel that will not let readers down. And while the main focus is on the anticipated Allied invasion, the novel also introduces young readers to the important work of the French resistance and the dangers involved in that kind of work.



Some of the descriptions of Nazi cruelty toward their enemies, and some of the scenes of the Normandy coast during the invasion are a little more graphic than most books written for this age group, though none of it is gratuitous. But, as with all of the novels I've read in the I Survived series, the writing is excellent and completely accessible and there is lots of kid appeal. Paul is a sympathetic character, and readers will no doubt relate to his fears, but also cheer his bravery.



This is a serious story told about a dangerous time, but Tarshis includes some lightheartedness in the form of Ellie, the carrier pigeon who accompanied Victor to France and whose job it was to fly back to England and let them know he had arrived safely. But Ellie isn't about to abandon Victor, even after he is at Castle Le Roc. Good thing, she turns out to be a lifesaver and a real hero, too. 



Tarshis has included a lot of back matter for curious kids, including a letter from the author to her readers about writing this book, answers to some questions about D-Day, and other points of interest to young readers, an overview of the vehicles used for the invasion (which I also found very informative), a Timeline, a list of books for Further Reading and a Selected Bibliography.



I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944 is a solid edition to the I Survived series, and is sure to appeal to kids who like exciting stories, historical fiction and/or WWII novels.



This book is recommended for readers age 7+

This book was sent to me by the publisher, Scholastic Press

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Skyward: The Story of Female Pilots in WWII written and illustrated by Sally Deng

It's 1927 and three girls living in different countries - Hazel, a Chinese American living in San Francisco, Marlene living in the English countryside, and Lilya, living in a small town in Russia - all have the same dream - they want to fly. What could feel more freeing that being up in the heavens in a plane?



As time went by, their dream of flying still very much alive, the girls did learn how to pilot a plane and experience the joy they knew they would find in the air. Marlene learned first with the help of her brother, getting a pilot's license even before she got her driver's license. Encouraged by her father, Hazel took lessons whenever she had the money to pay for them, reading books about the science of flying in between. Lilya's family wanted her to become a doctor not a pilot, so she secretly joined a high school flying club, paying for flight time by working in a factory.



When war broke out in 1939, and men left jobs to fight, women wondered what they could do to help. For Hazel, Marlene, and Lilya, the answer may have been easy, but their respective governments weren't interested in female pilots. At least, not until things began to be desperate. In the US, pilot Jackie Cochran established the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Hazel and her friend Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman, an African American pilot, both applied. Hazel was accepted into the WASPs, Bessie was rejected based on her race.



In England, Pauline Gower, the first woman to get a commercial pilot's license, was recruiting women for the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA). Naturally, Marlene applied but almost didn't get accepted because of something looking wonky during her physical. But in the end, though, Marlene was able to join the ATA.



In Russia, Marina Raskova, the most famous aviatrix in that country, was also recruiting female pilots and Lilya was invited to Moscow for an interview. Lily felt like she was in a dream, until she was accepted into Raskova's program.



The three women spent the war years risking their lives flying for their countries. Deng follows their adventures in WWII, as they perform feats of bravery even as they face of danger,  racism, doubt, misogyny and a general lack of support and encouragement.



This is Sally Deng's debut children's book and she makes it clear from the very beginning that this is a work of creative fiction based on real events and real women. While the character of Hazel might be based on the real Hazel Ying Lee, who did fly for the WASPs in WWII, there is not reason to think that this is a partial biography about her, but rather the author's homage to Hazel and all the other women who flew for their countries in WWII. However, Bessie Coleman, Pauline Gower, Jackie Cochran, and Marina Raskova are not fictional characters.



That being said, I loved this book. The text is simple, straightforward and easy to follow, even as it transitions from one character to another. This is, of course, supported by the illustrations, which are quite simply wonderful. Deng's washed illustrations are done in a palette that is reminiscent of old WWII posters and other illustrations from the time period. They run the gamut of spot illustrations to two page full-color spreads. There are also full pages with spot illustrations that, as you can see below, reflect all three women as they train and relax, despite being separated by thousands of miles, and which serves to move the story along nicely:

When I ordered this book, I did it sight unseen because it sounded like something I would be interested in, but I didn't really know what to expect. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. It is a thoughtful work of fiction, with beautifully rendered illustrations, that highlights the contributions of women pilots in WWII through three representative characters.

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was purchased for my personal library

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Island War by Patricia Reilly Giff

It's September 1941 and 12-year-old Izzy is beside herself with excitement at the idea of going to the Aleutian Island that her recently deceased father loved so much. Traveling with her mother, an ornithologist who will be studying the island's rare birds, Izzy isn't too happy when she discovers that Matt, an older boy from school, is also traveling to the same island.



Matt isn't at all happy about leaving his mom and traveling to an Aleutian Island with this remote father. He would much rather be rowing around Long Island Sound and cheering on his mom at her swim meets. And an encounter with Izzy on the boat doesn't help his attitude.



On the island, Izzy meets Maria, and the two girls immediately become friends, as well as the friendly but nameless village dog.  Matt is given a kayak by his father, who is as remote as ever, holed up in his room all day long and giving Matt freedom to kayak and explore whenever he isn't in school.



But when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and the United States enters the war, things change quickly. One Sunday morning, not long after Izzy and Matt's first Christmas on the island, Japanese soldiers arrive, shooting out the windows of everyone's home and rounding the people up inside the church. Matt's father has just enough time to hide the radio he has been using for a government job. After ransacking the homes and taking all the food, the Japanese soldiers send everyone back to their homes. From then on, the men go fishing everyday, and the barest minimum of their catch is given to the people, the rest kept for the soldiers. When Maria comes down with scarlet fever, Izzy is on her own.



Watching Matt, Izzy learns how he sneaks out of the village, through the barb wire wrapped around it, and begins escaping for a few hours of freedom, too. Matt's father suspects they will all be sent to a Japanese prison camp, and in September 1942, it begins to look imminent. One night, while away from the village, Izzy sees Matt's father being forced onto the Japanese ship. After realizing everyone is gone, Izzy believes she is alone on the island. Matt, who was out kayaking, believes the same thing when he returns.



Izzy and the village dog, whom she names Willie, head to Matt's house and find food there. When Matt arrives and accuses her of stealing, the two agree to stay away from each other. But when Izzy discovers some Japanese soldiers are still on the island, she realizes it's time to hide. Maybe she and Matt can find the cave her father had loved and told her about. When Matt falls and breaks his leg, the two are forced together in a battle for survival even as the island becomes a battleground between the Japanese and the Americans.



Island War is, without a doubt, an exciting story. Based on the actual occupation of two Aleutian Islands during WWII, Giff has woven a gripping story about two young, very different teens fighting for survival in the face of harsh elements and enemy soldiers. Ironically, their survival is helped by their absent fathers. For Izzy, it was the cave her father loved that provides shelter against the bitter winter cold and snow, while Matt's father provided him with skills to navigate the icy waters around the islands, among other life-saving measures.



The novel is narrated in first-person alternating sections by Izzy and Matt, so the reader knows exactly how each feels about what is happening to them and how they feel about each other. Interestingly, neither character particularly appealed to me at first, Matt felt like a moody, resentful teen, and Izzy too flighty and impulsive. So I particularly liked seeing how both characters grew and matured as the story went along and how the two former enemies had to learn to work together, and even begin to caring about one another, becoming more likable to the reader.



I've read a number of Patricia Reilly Giff's wartime novels now. She takes a real event and cleverly creates a story around it, presenting what life was like at each time and place during the war. In reality, the people living on the two Aleutian Islands occupied by the Japanese were all sent to prison camps in Japan, so Izzy and Matt's experience is strictly from her imagination, but still believable and certainly thought provoking.



I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII or simply historical literature. For an interesting, diverse look at life on the home front during WWII, I recommend this quartet of books by Patricia Reilly Giff: Island War, Willow Run (a young girl finds herself living in a village created for the war effort), Gingersnap (a young girl goes to Brooklyn looking for her unknown grandmother) , and Genevieve's War (an American girl visiting her grandmother finds herself living on the French home front).



And you could definitely pair Island War with Samantha Seiple's nonfiction work Ghosts in the Fog: the Untold Story of Alaska's WWII Invasion for a well-rounded look at this little known part of WWII history.



Island War will be available on October 23, 2018



This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was an EARC received from Edelweiss Plus

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