Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth

February 15, 2018
In the summer of 1968, Reenie Kelly learns about the costs of war and peaceful opposition.New in Lake Liberty, Minnesota, where she and her brothers now live with her grandmother since their family was bankrupted by her mother's fatal illness, 11-year-old Reenie takes on a paper route and strikes up a correspondence with one of her customers, reclusive H.W. Marsworth, a World War I draft resister. Reenie's older brother Billy also faces the draft, since he doesn't have the money for college, one way to avoid or at least postpone fighting in Vietnam. Reenie is determined to keep him out of the war, and both Mr. Marsworth and her Army pen pal, Pfc. Skip Nichols, support her goal. This heart-tugging story is told entirely in letters, mostly between the loquacious Reenie and her elderly customer, hers in faux hand printing on lined-paper backgrounds and his typed. These letters demonstrate their growing friendship as well as Reenie's developing activism and increasing understanding of what nonviolence really entails. There's also the revelation of a surprising family secret. The moral dilemma is laid out clearly for young readers; the author makes clear that there are no easy answers, though Billy's problem is conveniently solved. The book seems to subscribe to the white default.Moving and thought-provoking for middle-grade readers. (Historical fiction. 9-12)

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February 26, 2018
In this Vietnam-era epistolary novel, O’Connor (Sparrow Road) introduces a sweet and unexpected intergenerational friendship. When the feisty and persistent 11-year-old Reenie Kelly takes on a summer paper route that includes reclusive, elderly Mr. Marsworth, she begins to write him chatty, confessional letters. Her worries unfold believably: she’s new to the Minnesota town of Lake Liberty, desperately wishes for a friend, is frustrated living with her strict Grams after her mother’s death, and misses her absent father, who is working to pay off their medical debts. Foremost among her concerns is keeping her brother Billy out of the war by sending him to college, a seemingly impossible goal given their dire financial situation. The narrative also includes Reenie’s letter exchanges with her Vietnam soldier pen pal, Billy’s anti-war letter to the Minneapolis Tribune, and even Reenie’s plea to President Johnson to end the draft. O’Connor drives home the cost of protest, illustrating the enduring hatred in the community toward Quaker Mr. Marsworth for his conscientious objection to WWI (“TRATOR” is painted on his cottage) and the animosity toward Reenie’s family. The close-up on the remarkable relationship between Reenie and Mr. Marsworth shines here, as do the larger historical insights and the book’s resonant themes of pacifism and patriotism. O’Connor creates nostalgia for an era of pen-and-ink communications. Ages 10–up.

March 1, 2018

Gr 4-6-When her mother passes away, Reenie and her family go to live with her grandmother. To help her adjust, Reenie starts a paper route with her older brother Dare. As she begins to introduce herself to the people on her route, she meets a hermit named Mr. Marsworth. Slowly, the two become pen pals. When Reenie tells the elderly man that her older brother Billy wants to enlist to fight in the Vietnam War, Mr. Marsworth helps her concoct a plan to keep him home. Despite Reenie feeling more mature than a typical 11-year-old, O'Connor's characters are intriguing and easy to love. References to pop culture (the Beetles) and historical events (the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.) are peppered throughout Reenie's letters. O'Connor also incorporates opposing attitudes toward the Vietnam War into the narrative. The plot is well developed and the author throws some interesting curve balls into the story that keep readers engaged and wanting more. However, the epistolary format may be a turn off for some students. VERDICT An easy addition to libraries where Gary D. Schmidt's Wednesday Wars is popular.-Kira Moody, Salt Lake County Library Services

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2018
Grades 5-7 In 1968, over a year after their mother's death, 11-year-old Reenie and her brothers go to live with their grandmother in a small Minnesota community. After introducing herself to customers on her new paper route, Reenie begins leaving long messages for the one she's never met, Mr. Marsworth. In her many diary-like letters, Reenie comes across as chatty, emotional, impulsive, determined, and naive, while her reclusive neighbor, in his infrequent return notes, sounds intelligent, reserved, astute, and worldly. Reenie reports on her life, complete with scenes and dialogue. She shares her worries about her 18-year-old brother, who doesn't want to fight in Vietnam but can't afford to attend college in order to avoid the draft. Mr. Marsworth, who has suffered imprisonment, hostility, and harassment since refusing to serve in WWI, is sympathetic and practical. Despite the unconvincing premise that an 11-year-old would write such letters to an elderly stranger, and the revelation of a melodramatic secret near the story's end, the novel has strengths as well, including Reenie's effervescent voice and the well-developed main characters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)