Historical Fiction Book Reviews

Historical Fiction Book Review: Lilies Crossing by Patricia Reilly

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Giff, Patricia R. 1997. Lily’s Crossing. New York: Delacorte. ISBN 9780385321426

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

From the omniscient point of view, Lilies Crossing is set beginning in the summer of 1944 in St. Albans.  Our main character, Lily Mollahan, is preparing to go to the summer home in Rockaway Beach with her Grandmother “Gram” and her father “Poppy”.   Her mother passed away a few years before and Lily counts the time her mother has been away by removing paper stars from the wall in her room at home and taking them to Rockaway. 

When Lily arrives at Rockaway there are two unwelcome surprises. The first, her best friend Margaret Dillon’s family has to move to a factory town so the father can work.  Margaret leaves Lily the key to their house so she can look after their hideaway.  The second surprise occurs when Lilies father is called off to the war leaving Lily with her Gram, the situation potentially ruining her summer.

With her father and best friend gone boredom sets in. Lilly is preoccupied with candy rations, victory red lipstick and locating spies.  She finds friendship with a Hungarian boy named Albert and a stray cat named Paprika she cares for.  They find adventure in the attempt to have Albert catch a convoy ship headed for England in order to reunite with his sister there. 

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This lovely coming of age and friendship story is full of historical content pertaining to the home front during World War II.  The rations, blackouts, victory gardens, separation of family are all themes addressed in the book.  It is also a story of secrets and forgiveness.  Lilies’ father sends messages in the titles of books such as Madeline, A Tale of Two Cities, The Three Musketeers and The Promise which relay his whereabouts in Europe.  Lily also conveys her secrets to her friend Albert.

Lily’s quote while speaking to Albert about her mother:

“I want to tell you something,” she said after a while. “I have stars on my bedroom ceiling.  My mother passed them all up for me when I was a baby.  She said she wanted to give me the whole world…I never told anyone, not even Poppy.  I make them presents to me from my mother, every year on my birthday.”

Patricia Giff brings to life what it must have been like to be without a mother, father and friend as an adolescent.  Yet, through the character of Lily, hope and persistence are themes consistently brought forth.  Lily unexpectedly finds inspiration and hope with the help of her new friends and mends the tension between her and her grandmother.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

 Newbery Honor Book 1998

School Library Journal:  "Giff's well-drawn, believable characters and vivid prose style make this an excellent choice." 

Publisher’s Weekly:  "has all the ingredients that best reward readers." 

Booklist:  “With wry comedy and intense feeling, and without intrusive historical detail, Giff gets across a strong sense of what it was like on the home front during World War II.”

5. CONNECTIONS

* Have students develop messages as historic characters might have communicated in 140 character tweets - "Historical Tweets"
*Establish the home front setting by reading excerpts from this book
*Compare and contrast this book to Anne Frank by Wil Mara ISBN 0516298410
*Other books by Patricia Giff:
            Willow Run ISBN 9780440238010
            All the Way Home ISBN 038590021
            Maggie’s Door ISBN 0440415810

Historical Fiction Unabridged Audio (6 CD) Book Review: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gantos, Jack. 2011. Dead End in Norvelt. Audio CD. New York: Macmillan Young Listeners. ISBN 9781427213563

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

The story is set during the 1960’s in the Pennsylvania town known as Norvelt.  Named after Eleanor Roosevelt, this town was established during the depression as a “model community” for poor coal miners.  The town is almost dead as most people want to leave. The main character, Jack Gantos, is constantly in some kind of conflict mostly, because his parents are at odds with each other. Jack’s mother wants to stay in town and his father wants to move to Florida.  Jack also has a problem with nose bleeds whenever his is scared, nervous or upset.  This becomes embarrassing and a source of much hilarity throughout the story.

Jack is ultimately grounded where he is required to help his dad build a bunker and help Mrs. Volker, the town nurse and historian, write obituaries.  His mother insists that he do so for no pay.  Surprisingly, Jack and Mrs. Volker become friends because they share a mutual passion for history.  Mrs. Volker’s obituaries always contain a phenomenal and emotional history lesson making the story more interesting with their episodic plot.  Jack is kept very busy this particular summer as most of the town’s elderly population is dying fast. 

Jack sets out to solve the mystery.  The prime suspects are a group of Hell’s Angels which Jack’s encounter with them provides the climax of the story.  The book ends with Jack coming of age and finding many truths about him in the process. 

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book has it all, mystery, history, humor, gore, and a love story. Listening to the CD audio book was a treat as it is narrated in first-person point of view by the author, Jack Gantos.  The end of the book contains an interview with the author where he admits that some parts of the story are based on his life.  Jack’s voice is perfect for the part of pre-teen Jack as it is high pitched and whiney.  He adds particular nuances to the voices of his mother and Mrs. Volker.  The historical obituaries are wrought with passion and expression as Jack relates these commentaries so eloquently.

Though the book was slow at first surprisingly, the turning point in the book becomes apparent after the satirical hilarity of his first encounter with Mrs. Volker.  She suffers from arthritis and Jack walks into her kitchen while she is relieving the pain in her hands with a paraffin bath.  Jack thinks she is melting her hands off and his nose starts to bleed.  I laughed out loud.

Here is an excerpt from the point of view of Jack, where he meets with Mrs. Volker for the first time:

“She lifted her hands out of the pot and they were melting. Lumps of glowing yellow flesh oozes down her forearms and spattered onto the floor.

“Oh mercy!” I cried, and fidgeted up and down like a terrified squirrel. “Miss Volker, what have you done to yourself?”

… she held her arms up. “Now peel it off,” she ordered.

“Peel what off?” I asked.

“The sticky stuff on my arms,” she said impatiently, and then she held a rounded stump up to her mouth, bit off a cooked chunk, and spit it into the trash.

I felt faint. I staggered back a few steps and by then my nose was spewing like an elephant bathing himself. “Please…Miss Volker,” I said with my voice quavering. “Please don’t eat your own flesh.” Oh cheeze-us-crust. Mom didn’t know Miss Volker had gone insane, and I knew I would go insane too if I had to watch her cannibalize her own body down to the white boiled bones.

“You’re bleeding all over the floor,” she said, turning her attention toward me as if she wanted to wash her flesh meal down with my blood. “Let me have a look at you.” Then she reached toward me with her deformed stumps and touched my face and at that moment I yelped out loud and dropped over dead.”

The major theme throughout the book is perseverance and hope for better things to come.  This book brought back so many historical memories of the 1960’s.  Like driving a car as a pre-teen, walking through town at night and finding entertainment outdoors instead of on television.  I recommend this book or audio CD to anyone young or old.  The audio CD would be an excellent way to inspire young boys to read this book.   

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Newbery Medal Award 2012
Scott O'Dell Award

School Library Journal: “The author's trademark quirky characters are in abundance here and while the plot rises to only a gentle crest, middle school listeners will thoroughly enjoy the ride.”

Publisher’s Weekly:  “A bit of autobiography works its way into all of Gantos's work, but he one-ups himself in this wildly entertaining meld of truth and fiction by naming the main character... Jackie Gantos.”

5. CONNECTIONS

*Mrs. Volker uses a map to locate all of the deceased citizens of their town.  Use a local map to study historical points of interest in your locality.
*Use historical vignettes in the book to introduce lessons on life during the depression, Eleanor Roosevelt, or other historical content mentioned in the book.
*Use this book as an example of text using first person narrative.
*Use a newspaper obituary and read examples to students.  Compare and contrast the differences and similarities of the obituaries used in the book.  Have students write an obituary.
*Have students perform a reader’s theater using a humorous portion in the book; such as when Jack meets Mrs. Volker or when Mrs. Volker cures Jack’s nose bleeds.

Historical Fiction Book Review: Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Schmidt, Gary D. 2011. Okay for Now. New York: Clarion. ISBN 9780547152608

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

The book is told from the perspective of eighth grader Doug Sweiteck, who moves with his family to Marysville, New York in the summer of 1968.

Doug is a huge fan of baseball player, Joe Pepitone, who gave Doug his prized baseball cap. Doug’s bullying big brother, Christopher, steals the cap of his idol and trades it for some cigarettes.  It eventually is lost to Doug’s dismay.

When Doug arrives in Marysville, he eventually finds friendship with Lil Spicer and the local librarian Mr. Powel.  Lil’s father runs the neighborhood deli where Doug obtains a job delivering groceries to the area customers.  One of the most cantankerous clients is Mrs. Windermere, a Broadway playwright, who Doug befriends as well. 

As his friendships grow, so does his newly acquired passion for drawing.  Inspired by John James Audubon’s artwork in a rare book housed on display at the library, and the prodding of Mr. Powel, Doug practices his new talent.  His passion eventually leads him on a private mission to help his friend Mr. Powel reclaim something that belongs in the library. Audubon’s book proves to be the uniting theme throughout the book.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The nemesis in the story is Doug’s abusive alcoholic father who moves the family to Marysville in order to find work with is no good friend Ernie Eco.  Doug must overcome more obstacles including the return of his oldest brother Lucas, who was injured in Vietnam, and the dislike from his Physical Education Coach Reed.  Our main character learns to deal with the negative situations in his life with hopeful and positive insights.  His persistence and influence becomes an inspiration to others to do what is right.  Doug learns to roll with the punches, discovering much about himself while helping others in the process. 

Schmidt delivers emotional expression in his character Doug by delving into the psyche of a middle school young man and what it is like to live under stressful conditions at home and school.  The book is right on target when it comes to what it is like to live with an alcoholic and abusive parent.  You never know what you are going to get when you come in contact with this kind of person.  Doug exhibits many of the coping skills of dealing with this kind of stress.  He takes on a job, even though his father thinks it is a worthless endeavor.  He has interests outside the home and takes pride in his accomplishments.  Examples of this are his ability to do well in his literature class and learning to draw the birds in the prints.  Doug continues even though his brother destroys many of his drawings.

This book serves as a great example of courageously overcoming issues related to bullying and abuse and serves as a sequel to Schmidt’s previous novel The Wednesday Wars.   Though the plot tends to weaken with the unbelievable occurrence of Lil and Doug getting parts in a Broadway play, the book carries the theme of hope and makes a great guy read.  

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

School Library Journal:  “Schmidt manages a hard balance of relatable youth-is-hard humor and nuanced family trauma, though the mix of antics and realism is a bit Shakespearean.”

Publisher’s Weekly:  “This companion to The Wednesday Wars follows the formula of Schmidt's Newbery Honor winner with less success.”

Library Media Connection:  “There are laugh-out-loud moments here, and passages that will move a reader to tears; it’s brilliant, and beautiful, and very nearly a perfect book.”

5. CONNECTIONS

*Use this book as a springboard for serious discussion on bullying and positive options for overcoming stress
*Compare and contrast the characters in Okay for Now with the ones in Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
*Introduce the works of John James Audubon using this book
*Conduct a writing lesson on people who have influenced students through tough times
*Other books by Gary Schmidt:

            Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert  ISBN 978054761218
            The Wednesday Wars ISBN 9780547237602
            Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy ISBN 9780618439294
            Trouble ISBN 978057331331
            Straw Into Gold ISBN 978054737763
            Anson’s Way ISBN 978057237619