Shadows on the Sea

September 15, 2003
Browsers drawn to Harlow's (Joshua's Song) WWII home-front novel by the sleek picture of a submarine in crosshairs on the cover might be in for a slight disappointment—the naval intrigue nestled into the plot doesn't fully emerge until close to the end. Jill Winter must spend the summer of '42 with her grandmother in small-town Maine; her father, a famous pop singer, is on tour, and her mother has taken a dangerous route to Newfoundland to care for her dying brother. Jill immediately makes two friends—Wendy, who, as Jill later discovers, is considered a pariah by the community, and Quarry, a salt-of-the-earth country boy. Against the backdrop of Jill's fears about her parents' safety, smaller intrigues play out. What is the purpose of her grandmother's secret Saturday night meetings with a group of women, among them a German? Why is their strange neighbor breeding pigeons (he claims they're for food, but Jill thinks otherwise)? And why are the Crystals, a local girls' clique, so determined to blackball Wendy? Harlow does an excellent job of describing the hardships of war on those back home, when rationing and a heightened sense of caution transform buttering a roll or turning on a light into something significant. Although the dialogue can be wooden and the plotting eventually strains for effect, the novel offers an enjoyable slice-of-life with an overlay of mystery. Ages 8-12.

September 1, 2003
Gr 6-8-Jill Winters, 14, has been sent to stay with her grandmother in Maine while her father, a famous singer, is on a U.S. tour and her mother is visiting her dying brother in Newfoundland. It is the summer of 1942, and German U-boats patrol the shores of the North Atlantic. Jill is terrified that her mother's ship will be torpedoed and nervous about the possibility of U-boats in the area. Adding to her worries are the mysterious goings-on in Winter Haven. Even her grandmother is secretive about the Sunday night meetings she has with her friends. When Jill intercepts a carrier pigeon with a message in German, she begins to suspect that someone in the community is guilty of treason, and she has no idea whom to trust. After the town's July 4th clambake, her life is threatened when it becomes clear to the spies that she has figured out their identity. The ending is not neatly tied up and leaves some unanswered questions. Though the novel is largely plot driven, it moves along at an engaging pace, and the author weaves in snippets about World War II and details of teen life during the 1940s.-Cheri Estes Dobbs, Detroit Country Day Middle School, Beverly Hills, MI

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