Historical Fiction
5th grade
This novel takes place during World War II. It is about a young girl, Ellen, who is at home growing through the summers of the war. The novel takes place during the summers of 1942 to 1945. When the war begins she is a little girl that enjoys playing and being curious with her friends, one of which is a Jew from Germany whose family was able to get out of the country. She also loves to play with her uncle, who lives with her family.
As the story continues things change for Ellen. Her uncle decides to join the military and she finds herself growing into a teenager that is no longer fascinated by playing outside but rather talking about boys. But one thing that stays the same, is her love for her uncle and hearing about his experience in war. At the end of the book readers are able to capture just how much Ellen's life has changed since the war first started. This is shown by the comparison of what her uncle is like now that he is home from war and her reaction to this change. Readers are able to capture what it was like for US families during the war.
The author has the book divided into the summer of each year. As you read you can see the difference in Ellen's lifestyle and personality, it serves almost like a timeline. This book also does an excellent job showing a different perspective of the war and how people's lives changed during the war.
So often when students learn about WWII they hear the prospective of a soldier or a Jew. Both of these prospectives are important for students to learn about but it is also important for them to hear different sides as well. I would use this book with a number of other books (maybe from the prospective of a nurse, parent of a soldier, Japanese-American, etc.) to teach students about the other sides of war. I would give students a list of books to choose from and have them pick one book to read. After reading the book I would have them present to their classmates the book they read and the perspective they read it from.
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