TWU LS 5603 - Historical Fiction - THE WEDNESDAY WARS

Schmidt, Gary D. 2007. THE WEDNESDAY WARS. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 0618724834

PLOT SUMMARY

In this Romeo and Juliet story, this novel’s lead character, Holling Hoodhood, is a  vastly complex junior high school student with expectations from his father to take over the family business one day. Holling has his family pressure and the often conflicted friendship of Meryl Lee and her family to contend with throughout this re-working of the classic tale.  From his explicit dislike for his teacher, Mrs. Baker, to his dread at being left alone in class on Wednesdays while other students are bussed away to the Hebrew temple and the Catholic Church for additional classes. Holling begins a difficult, yet enlightening journey with his teacher through hard work, Shakespeare, and sports. Holling becomes empowered and grows as a young student at school and at home, during this Vietnam era book.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Holling Hoodhood seems to be a typical junior high school boy, who tries to avoid the school bully, finds love in a classmate and tries to fit in at Camillo Junior High School. The student characters in the book seem realistic and typical of the age described in the book. The teacher, Mrs.Baker and cafeteria lady, Mrs. Bigio play a big role in the personal life of Holling as the plot unfolds. The use of all female teachers is very authentic in describing a typical junior high school campus in the 1960s.

As Holling experiences his sister’s disdain for the Vietnam War and eventual discovery and homecoming, the factual events are pulled into the story politically from his father and mother’s view. Holling’s father explains to his sister that “Bobby Kennedy is a rich kid from Cape Cod who’s never done anything on his own his whole life.”

In typical Romeo and Juliet style, Holling’s father is driven by the success of his architect firm and Meryl Lee’s father is just as competitive with his firm. The main characters are pitted against one another during a bid for a design for a new school and both Holling and Meryl Lee’s trust is tested as well as their family loyalty.

Mrs. Baker’s personal experience with the war, having her husband away fighting, brings the war into the classroom for the students. The character, Mai Thi, has been rescued from Vietnam by the Catholic Relief Agency and brings the people of Vietnam into the classroom as a real casualty of the war.  

The brilliant example of how one teacher can impact and change a student’s life is embodied in the character of Mrs. Baker. She is a teacher, confidant, motivator, coach, counselor, and Holling’s biggest supporter through so many trying times in this adolescent’s life. The absence of his parents at major events is fostered by the presence of Mrs. Baker.

There are not author’s notes or citations included in the book.  This historical references include the Red Sox and the World series, Mrs. Bakers’ experience at the Olympics, the Bing Crosby Christmas special on T.V., Mickey Mantle, Bobby Kennedy, and Holling’s sister listening to the Beatles record just to name a few.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Book Links starred 09/01/07

Notable/Best Books (ALA) 01/01/08

Booklist starred 06/01/07

School Library Journal 07/01/07

Horn Book starred 10/01/07

Wilson’s Children 01/01/09

Newbery Medal/Honor 01/14/08

Wilson’s Junior High School 01/09/10

Horn Book (July/August, 2007) – “Schmidt rises above the novel's conventions to create memorable and believable characters.”

Kirkus Review starred (May 15, 2007) – “Schmidt has a way of getting to the emotional heart of every scene without overstatement, allowing the reader and Holling to understand the great truths swirling around them on their own terms.”

CONNECTIONS

Kline, Trish. 2001. I AM CALLED CALPULLI. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 0823415708

·         Partner this as another coming of age book but with an Indian lead character

Packer, Tina, and Gail De Marcken. 2004. TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0439321077

·         Partner this as an overview of the Shakespeare plays discussed in the text

Warren, Andrea. 2004. ESCAPE FROM SAIGON: A VIETNAM WAR ORPHAN BECOMES AN AMERICAN BOY. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0374322244

• Partner this book as a perspective on international adoption

TWU LS 5603 - Historical Fiction - UNDER THE BLOOD-RED SUN

Salisbury, Graham. 1994. UNDER THE BLOOD-RED SUN. New York: Delacorte Press.

 ISBN 038532099X

PLOT SUMMARY

This is a story about three generations of Japanese Americans living in Hawaii before, during, and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The main character, Tomi, has multi-cultural friends who are white “haole,” Portuguese, and Hawaiian. He struggles to figure out who he is in the sometimes dual world of being both Japanese and American.  From the baseball field to his house on another man’s land, Tomi struggles to control his anger at his situation. While his dad is gone fishing, the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and his dad is arrested, as a spy, to an island prison and then to the mainland. From his mother’s journey as a sixteen year old mail order bride, to the loss of his father, and the realization that he is the man of the family, Tomi resists the urge to fight and accepts his future as the leader of his family in Hawaii and keeper of Japanese traditions.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Tomi’s character is introduced in partnership with the Grampa’s character.  The generation gap and national heritage gap is apparent with Grampa proudly washing his Japanese flag outside. The embarrassment and fear of trouble is an ongoing theme within this book and is based historically in this time period. As Graham Salisbury writes the dialogue in English and Japanese, the reader feels the divergence of the two characters through both the spelling and the rhythm of the languages.

Tomi the son, shows his responsibility by taking care of his father’s pigeons, his little sister, Kimi, and the dog, Lucky, when she has her puppies. Tomi struggles to be as responsible when it comes to his favorite past-time, baseball. The passion Tomi shows for the sport can be identified by readers and the escape of the generations listening to the game on the radio is very authentic to the time period, when families gathered around the radio to enjoy the sport.

There are elements of racism between the wealthy Americans living on the island and the poor Japanese Americans. Remarks about the housing situations with respect to Tomi’s family living in a very small, cramped house and Billy’s room being “three times bigger, at least” are a testament to the cultural divide economically on the island.

The different high schools and the different baseball teams made up of mostly ethnically similar players define the times of the 1940s where segregation was the norm.  Labor intensive jobs were held by Tomi’s dad and their Japanese friends from fishing to tuna packers and boat builders while Tomi’s mom was a maid for a family whose mother worked as a nurse.

The animal elements in the story deliver loss when the pigeons have to be killed because they are suspicious in the activity of the Japanese war planes and the family dog who delivers puppies represents rebirth and comfort with both Billy and Kimi.

The epilogue of the book gives a brief historical summary of the fate of the Japanese Americans in Hawaii and the award of $20,000 to each survivor of the relocations. The author’s personal experience of growing up in the Hawaiian Islands and his fishing experience lend authenticity to the book’s setting and the details of the culture as the plot unfolds.

The theme of family loyalty and loyalty to your friends and country are universal. Mr. Ramos, the teacher, reinforces this by saying that people are ‘’fighting to keep the right to make their own choices, to keep the right to live a free life.”

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Book Links (ALA) 02/01/01

Notable/Best Books (ALA)

Booklist

Publishers Weekly 12/04/95

Books for the Teen Age (NYPL) 03/01/97

School Library Journal

Elementary School Library Collection 06/01/00

Wilson’s Junior High School 01/09/10

Publishers Weekly (December 4, 1995) – “Torn between his love of all things American and the traditional ways of his parents and grandparents, a young Japanese American comes of age during the political upheaval of WWII.”

 

CONNECTIONS

Salisbury, Graham. 2006. HOUSE OF THE RED FISH. New York: Wendy Lamb Books. ISBN 0385731213

·         Partner this as the sequel to the original book – takes place one year after

Mazer, Harry. 2001. A BOY AT WAR: A NOVEL OF PEARL HARBOR. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0689841612

·         Partner this as another son and father book about Pearl Harbor- from a U.S. naval officer perspective

Walters, Eric. 1998. WAR OF THE EAGELS. Victoria, BC, Canada: Orca Book Publishers. ISBN 1551431181

·         Partner this as another WWII book

TWU LS 5603 - Historical Fiction - THE GREEN GLASS SEA

Klages, Ellen. 2006. THE GREEN GLASS SEA. New York, N.Y.: Viking. ISBN 0670061344

PLOT SUMMARY

This is the story of a girl named Dewey and her father, a scientist, working on the Manhattan project in 1943.  Dewey travels alone from St. Louis to Los Alamos, New Mexico to reunite with her father after her grandmother has a stroke.  Dewey’s love of electronics and her new discovery of a trash dump with a heap of discarded parts make friends out of the boys in her new neighborhood and set Dewey apart from most of the girls. After the death of her father, Dewey is left alone. Two scientists, who worked with her father, adopt Dewey and travel to the explosion site to take a piece of history with them as they start their new life.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Ellen Klages writes an enthralling novel about the atomic bomb - full of young, often brash characters and the adults that are charged with taking care of them in an unfamiliar and volatile environment. Her description of life in Los Alamos is intriguing and has a two layered storyline of the yearning for acceptance and love by Dewey and the historical development of the bomb by the adult scientists. The power of the government, the power of science, and the power of love are all woven together and leave the reader interested in learning more about the development of the bomb.

In the opening chapter a vivid description of Dewey Kerrigan is given from her physical appearance of her hair and build, to the fact that she has been a victim of polio by the description of her shoes. She is sitting alone because her Nana has been taken away due to a stroke. Throughout the book Dewey is endearing to readers because she moves to a new place and has to find new friends in this strangely secretive environment.  Problems with fitting in as a new kid and navigating her love of mechanical things, leaves Dewey as a underdog character that the reader can rally behind.  With Dewey’s father traveling and leaving her under other’s care you feel her fear of abandonment as he leaves for Washington never to return. The Gordon family provides a stable warm family environment as they eventually adopt Dewey.

           

There is the desperation of the scientists to make progress on this project as apparent in the dialogue between the scientists throughout the book and the references to “The Allies are just outside Paris. It won’t be long.”  The use of the term “gadget” to describe the bomb is appealing to younger readers.  With Dewey’s fascination with her own gadgets she is not worried that her father is also working on a gadget.  The secrecy involved in living on a military base is detailed through the use of the ID cards, missing addresses, secret sites, and nicknames for the fields of science like “fizzers” and “stinkers.”

The mention of “Hitler,”  “Eleanor Roosevelt,” “Truman,” and “Robert Oppenheimer,” are real names from the time period with an impact on this historical setting’s authenticity. The Author’s notes provide other sources about the development of the atomic bomb.

The adult characters are all involved in creating this “gadget” to win the war.  The heroic theme of saving the United States and keeping our freedom is timeless as apparent in the statement made by Dewey’s dad “if we win this war, I’ll always be free to do what I love. To solve problems, to teach, to share my discoveries. A lot of my colleagues can’t. Some of them have died for it.”

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Book Links (ALA) 12/01/08

Publishers Weekly starred 10/23/06

Booklist 11/15/06

School Library Journal 11/01/06

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books 01/01/07

Wilson’s Children 10/01/07

Horn Book starred 04/01/07

Wilson’s Junior High School 01/09/10

Horn Book starred (Spring 2007) – “History and story are drawn together with confidence in this intense but accessible page-turner.”

Library Media Connection (April/May 2007) – “The description of this part of World War II is interesting and provocative. This well-paced story gives us an insight to a different part of the war and how it affected the people that were involved in the Manhattan Project.”

CONNECTIONS

Klages, Ellen. 2008. WHITE SANDS, RED MENACE. New York, N.Y.: Viking.

ISBN 0670062359

·         Partner this book as a sequel

Zindel, Paul. 2001. THE GADGET. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN 0060278129

·         Partner this book as a male character lead in a similar story

Boyne, John. 2006. THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS: A FABLE. Oxford: David Fickling Books. ISBN 038575107

Partner this book to explore community facades during historical events