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gmamartha's review against another edition
3.0
Good "hook" of present-day sisters on a road trip with their grandmother to hear flashbacks of her story in the war...
thukpa's review against another edition
4.0
Octavia and Talitha are stuck riding along with their grandmother Mare cross country to a family reunion in Alabama. Mare's not like other grandmothers, and neither girl is happy with spending their summer this way. Along the way, though, they get to know a little bit about how Mare became the tough old broad that she is: she served in WWII, Women's Army Corp, in the all African-American 6888th battillion. Having escaped poverty and violence by entering the army in segregationist times, Mare not only learned skills that served her throughout her life, but experienced a less racist European lifestyle and came home with a resolve to change her life. Told in alternating chapters, titled "now" in Octavia's viewpoint and "then," Mare's story, this was a great book on many levels.
brandypainter's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted here.
How much do you know about African American women serving in the Women's Army Corp during World War II? Or really the Women's Army Corp in general? I'm not going to lie despite taking two classes on the second world war in college my knowledge of both is pretty slim. In Mare's War Tanita Davis has given us a peak inside this small part of the fighting force and woven it into a greater story of family and relationship.
The story is told in alternating points of view jumping from present to past. The present parts are first person from the voice of Octavia and the past are first person from the voice of Mare. The contrast between the two tells as great a story as the past glimpses into army life for African American women during the war. Octavia and Tali live a far easier life, this side of the civil rights movement, and the Great Depression. Their grandmother frequently tells them they are spoiled and listening to her story they begin to see why she would think so. The themes of family, relationships, generational conflict, and disdain for our own history are all explored through the contrast. While a very interesting story could have been told through the WWII era bits alone, a greater and far more interesting one is told combining the two.
I enjoyed all three characters, their different personalities, and journeys. It is clear that Tali is very much like her grandmother, Mare, in personality but they have been shaped differently by the circumstances in their lives. Mare is most definitely the star of this book as she appears in both sections and putting the details of her current life we are given with the story from the past is fascinating. Octavia was a more difficult character for me to see fully and she felt more like a vehicle for telling the story of modern day Mare and her sister.
This is a slow paced book, a book more about the journey than the destination, but it is an engrossing read. The history is fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the parts in Europe and the comparison between how the women were treated there and here. The modern parts are amusing and I can see modern day teens definitely relating to Tali and Octavia.
How much do you know about African American women serving in the Women's Army Corp during World War II? Or really the Women's Army Corp in general? I'm not going to lie despite taking two classes on the second world war in college my knowledge of both is pretty slim. In Mare's War Tanita Davis has given us a peak inside this small part of the fighting force and woven it into a greater story of family and relationship.
The story is told in alternating points of view jumping from present to past. The present parts are first person from the voice of Octavia and the past are first person from the voice of Mare. The contrast between the two tells as great a story as the past glimpses into army life for African American women during the war. Octavia and Tali live a far easier life, this side of the civil rights movement, and the Great Depression. Their grandmother frequently tells them they are spoiled and listening to her story they begin to see why she would think so. The themes of family, relationships, generational conflict, and disdain for our own history are all explored through the contrast. While a very interesting story could have been told through the WWII era bits alone, a greater and far more interesting one is told combining the two.
I enjoyed all three characters, their different personalities, and journeys. It is clear that Tali is very much like her grandmother, Mare, in personality but they have been shaped differently by the circumstances in their lives. Mare is most definitely the star of this book as she appears in both sections and putting the details of her current life we are given with the story from the past is fascinating. Octavia was a more difficult character for me to see fully and she felt more like a vehicle for telling the story of modern day Mare and her sister.
This is a slow paced book, a book more about the journey than the destination, but it is an engrossing read. The history is fascinating. I particularly enjoyed the parts in Europe and the comparison between how the women were treated there and here. The modern parts are amusing and I can see modern day teens definitely relating to Tali and Octavia.
readwithpassion's review against another edition
3.0
Tali and Octavia set off on a road trip with their quirky grandmother, Mare. They are both quite unexcited to be spending their summer with her, but the road trip proves to be very enlightening for them. The chapters are labeled "Then" (Mare's story) and "Now" (Modern day). Mare tells the girls about her experiences as a black female in the segregated WAC (Women's Army Corp) during WWII. It provides a great amount of historical details. I never know about Claudette Colvin, a black woman who refused to give up her seat before Rosa Parks. Mare tells that this woman never became famous because she later became pregnant by a married man and wasn't a good poster image of civil rights. I found the historical information to be very interesting, but there were points of the story that weren't very engaging for me, thus the rating of three stars.
19paws's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this young adult book about an African-American woman’s experience in the army during World War II. The story shifts back and forth between her war years and her cross country trip with two granddaughters. The more modern interruptions really didn’t add much to the book. The rest of it was fascinating! This is highly recommended for great storytelling as well as a peek into a wonderful slice of our country’s history.
sarahannkateri's review against another edition
When I gave up: 100+ pages
Why I gave up: Great premise, not-so-great execution. Present-day interludes felt forced. Might try to finish someday.
Good for: African-American girls who want read historical fiction, but are sick of slavery, World War II buffs who are tired of reading about the Holocaust.
Best part: Sassy old ladies.
Why I gave up: Great premise, not-so-great execution. Present-day interludes felt forced. Might try to finish someday.
Good for: African-American girls who want read historical fiction, but are sick of slavery, World War II buffs who are tired of reading about the Holocaust.
Best part: Sassy old ladies.
lasya123456's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
marmoset737's review against another edition
3.0
This is a relatively strong historical fiction choice for younger teens and advanced tweens. The book alternates between a road-trip that modern-day teens Tali and Octavia take with their spunky grandma Mare, to Mare's story as an underaged member of the African American Women's Army Corps during World War II. The parts in the past are a compelling look at two very influential yet little-known aspects of history - the Women's Army Corps and the African American Women's Army Corps. The book also touches on everything from a comparison of race relations in both the U.S. and Europe to lesbianism in the 1940s. The history is engaging but slightly overshadowed by popular tween themes of friendship, romance, and coming of age which ultimately is why I'd recommend this book to younger teens as opposed to older, more mature teen readers who have access to far more hard-hitting looks at the subjects covered in this book. Minus two stars for the overuse of the contemporary narrative. While I appreciated the story of the two sisters coming to accept their grandmother as a nice framework for the book, I generally found their griping and own "coming of age" tales a little too trivial to take away as much time as they did from Mare's far more well-crafted and deeply engaging journey.
sacajaguido's review against another edition
4.0
In this novel, Octavia and Tali, two teenage sisters that spend more time arguing then talking, are sent on a road trip with their grandmother Mare. Now, Mare isn’t your stereotypical grandmother, she drives too fast, she smokes too much, and she dresses like she’s still in her 20’s. Octavia and Tali soon find, though, that there is a lot more to Mare then they had thought. The book is broken down into chapters told from Octavia’s perspective, little inserts of postcards that the girls send during the trip, and chapters told from Mare’s perspective during her time in the Women’s Army Corps during WWII. Octavia and Tali seemed a little flat character wise and you never really feel completely connected with these characters; the chapters that are told from Octavia’s POV seem like filler and don’t really move the story along much. Mare’s chapters, though, are filled with a wide variety of characters that each stick out in the narrative. The world of an African American woman in the WAC wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination and the author does a great job of showing the hardships that these women faced. What’s a real strength of this novel is that none of the characters seem fictional; each girl struggles with the world that they are fighting for in different ways and they handle what is thrown at them in such a way that everyone will be able to relate to at least one of the characters. So, overall the weaknesses of the chapters in the present are greatly overshadowed by the world and characters depicted in the past. I would recommend this book to readers from 6th grade up who enjoy reading historical fiction; this would be a great book for those students who are interested in learning about women in WWII.