War and Millie McGonigle

February 15, 2021
A San Diego tween nurses grievances as war approaches. Since her best friend moved away and Gram, her biggest fan, died, Millie's been preoccupied with death. In the lingering aftermath of the Depression, money is tight. While Pop looks for work, her cute but sickly 7-year-old sister, "Lily the pill," hogs Mama's attention while Pete, 5, demands Millie's. Worse, annoying Cousin Edna's moved into their two-bedroom house. In her notebook, Gram's last gift, Millie sketches dead sea life she finds along Mission Beach's sandy spit. Gram said nothing living dies if it's remembered. Millie's good at remembering. After Japan bombs Pearl Harbor and war is declared, Mama works nights building bombers; Pop works days as a Navy clerk. When darkness reigns sundown to sunrise, Millie--imaginative, funny, heartened by a new friendship--is the rock Lily and Pete depend on. If the particulars of Millie's world are unfamiliar, readers will find broader parallels to the present, compellingly conveyed. As war reshapes their lives, some seek scapegoats to blame, but Millie's Irish American family, with their own experiences of prejudice, rejects the anti-Japanese and anti-immigrant bias taking ugly root around them. Rich, authentic detail brings setting, community, and era to resonant life, as when a neighborhood child contracts polio and parents anxiously watch their own for symptoms. With the future uncertain, Millie discovers precious, hidden beauty lies in once-monotonous daily life. Accomplished storytelling transforms grim history into a light for dark times. (author's note, note on research) (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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March 1, 2021
Grades 4-7 With America on the brink of WWII, 12-year-old Millie is scared, worried, and, above all, gloomy. Her grandmother has given her a diary for recording things that she cares about, but following Gram's death, Millie misinterprets her words, using the book to draw pictures of dead sea creatures at the local beach. She dislikes sharing a bed with her elderly cousin Edna and resents the attention paid to her younger sister and brother. She doesn't want to meet the new girl in the neighborhood. But after Pearl Harbor, Mom learns to weld and works a night-shift job. Millie takes on increased responsibilities at home, caring for her siblings more often and softening her demeanor. Woven into the narrative are many details of life on the home front, from kids collecting cans to adults disrespecting people of German, Italian, and Japanese descent. The thoughts and emotions in Millie's first-person narrative ring true, and the gradual changes in her perspective, brought about by experiences and relationships, are convincing as well. A lively choice for historical fiction fans.

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March 1, 2021

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

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