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ewein2412's review against another edition
So - another WWII novel - another Girl Book. This one is FANTASTIC. And you know what? It’s a Young Adult novel.
This is the story of a teen, Marey Lee Boylen, who joins the Women’s Army Corps and becomes one of the only group of American black women to be sent to Europe during the war. It’s framed as a road trip that Mare takes with her two teenaged granddaughters some 65 years later (ie, in the present day). So there’s a good amount of comparison between the journey of growth taken by all the young women, present and past.
It’s an exquisite book. The heroism here is quiet, honest, and unsung.
Feen say Aunt Shirley says not to speak to him on the street in public. Folks say it is bad enough that she is colored, but no patriotic American should be seen talking to a Jap. Feen says it don’t make her no difference whatsoever what kind of boy Tommy is. She says next time she sees him, she will buy him a Coke.
This little anecdote is pretty much an aside from the rest of the plot, but I think it represents the whole spirit of the book, filled with people who break the chain, who think for themselves - who change their world through small acts that require huge amounts of courage. Leaving home. Drinking from a forbidden water fountain. Buying a Japanese boy a Coke. And these acts of bravery are passed on down the generations as Mare encourages her granddaughter Octavia to learn to drive.
I also found Mare’s understated but heartfelt observations of wartorn Europe very moving - how everything is represented in little. The French postal assistants who faint because they’re so malnourished; the passers-by frozen in the street as a V1 flying bomb passes overhead, only to laugh at each other when it doesn’t go off nearby.
“Everywhere I am, I’ve got to do the best I can do right while I’m there, you know?”
I’ve come to the conclusion that the rules for accurate detail and good copy editing are more stringent in children’s publishing than they are in the adult world. It’s a bit like hiking. If you are a girl hiking with boys, you have to walk approximately 20 paces ahead to be considered to be keeping up. Likewise, if you are writing for “children,” you have to make sure you are not giving out factual errors. Mare’s War, as far as I can tell or know, reads as though the narrator was really there. But it’s fiction, and historical fiction. It’s not, as far as I know, based on experience. (Although I had to smile when Mare landed in Glasgow, which is where the displaced Calfornian author lives!)
I didn’t trip over anything in this book - I wouldn’t have known where to trip if I did. Mare’s voice was so wholly convincing that I didn’t doubt the authenticity of ANYTHING she said. And I liked the contrast of Mare’s essentially unschooled old-fashioned Southern voice with Octavia’s privileged middle-class modern voice. (And the author pulls it off with the effortless smoothness of Alice Walker.)
Gosh darn it, Tanita S. Davis, you are a genius. I can’t believe you made me CRY REAL TEARS OVER THE DEATH OF FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT.
----------------------------
Also, this is just to say that I think the cover for the paperback is FABULOUS. There is no racial waffling here: this is a BLACK WOMAN on the cover. She is hard and tough, wearing a tin GI’s helmet. She is feminine and beautiful, delicately applying lipstick from a gold tube. The lipstick *lights* her lips, making them glow red, rather than merely adding color to them. Her face is without expression. It is a perfect balance of strength and beauty; race comes into play but is not the focus of the image; it conveys the character of the protagonist AND hints at the plot. I love this cover.
This is the story of a teen, Marey Lee Boylen, who joins the Women’s Army Corps and becomes one of the only group of American black women to be sent to Europe during the war. It’s framed as a road trip that Mare takes with her two teenaged granddaughters some 65 years later (ie, in the present day). So there’s a good amount of comparison between the journey of growth taken by all the young women, present and past.
It’s an exquisite book. The heroism here is quiet, honest, and unsung.
Feen say Aunt Shirley says not to speak to him on the street in public. Folks say it is bad enough that she is colored, but no patriotic American should be seen talking to a Jap. Feen says it don’t make her no difference whatsoever what kind of boy Tommy is. She says next time she sees him, she will buy him a Coke.
This little anecdote is pretty much an aside from the rest of the plot, but I think it represents the whole spirit of the book, filled with people who break the chain, who think for themselves - who change their world through small acts that require huge amounts of courage. Leaving home. Drinking from a forbidden water fountain. Buying a Japanese boy a Coke. And these acts of bravery are passed on down the generations as Mare encourages her granddaughter Octavia to learn to drive.
I also found Mare’s understated but heartfelt observations of wartorn Europe very moving - how everything is represented in little. The French postal assistants who faint because they’re so malnourished; the passers-by frozen in the street as a V1 flying bomb passes overhead, only to laugh at each other when it doesn’t go off nearby.
“Everywhere I am, I’ve got to do the best I can do right while I’m there, you know?”
I’ve come to the conclusion that the rules for accurate detail and good copy editing are more stringent in children’s publishing than they are in the adult world. It’s a bit like hiking. If you are a girl hiking with boys, you have to walk approximately 20 paces ahead to be considered to be keeping up. Likewise, if you are writing for “children,” you have to make sure you are not giving out factual errors. Mare’s War, as far as I can tell or know, reads as though the narrator was really there. But it’s fiction, and historical fiction. It’s not, as far as I know, based on experience. (Although I had to smile when Mare landed in Glasgow, which is where the displaced Calfornian author lives!)
I didn’t trip over anything in this book - I wouldn’t have known where to trip if I did. Mare’s voice was so wholly convincing that I didn’t doubt the authenticity of ANYTHING she said. And I liked the contrast of Mare’s essentially unschooled old-fashioned Southern voice with Octavia’s privileged middle-class modern voice. (And the author pulls it off with the effortless smoothness of Alice Walker.)
Gosh darn it, Tanita S. Davis, you are a genius. I can’t believe you made me CRY REAL TEARS OVER THE DEATH OF FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT.
----------------------------
Also, this is just to say that I think the cover for the paperback is FABULOUS. There is no racial waffling here: this is a BLACK WOMAN on the cover. She is hard and tough, wearing a tin GI’s helmet. She is feminine and beautiful, delicately applying lipstick from a gold tube. The lipstick *lights* her lips, making them glow red, rather than merely adding color to them. Her face is without expression. It is a perfect balance of strength and beauty; race comes into play but is not the focus of the image; it conveys the character of the protagonist AND hints at the plot. I love this cover.
llyrrhiannon's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful novel set in both the past and the present. Ms. Davis is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.
dlarca's review against another edition
3.0
Driving across the county with their cigarette-smoking, fast-driving, very unconventional grandmother, Mare is the last way Octavia and Talitha Boylen want to spend their summer vacation. But as Mare begins to tell them about her childhood and the forces that drove her into the Women’s Army Corps during WWII, Octavia and Tali come to a deeper understanding of their grandmother and themselves.
Alternating chapters break the story down between “now” and “then”, but Mare’s story is where this book shines. The road trip parts were less interesting and seemed unnecessary to me at first, but Davis brought the two stories together nicely at the end. What stood out most to me are the themes of family, loyalty, and inequality. It was heartbreaking to see Mare struggle with her mother’s silence after she joined the WAC and uplifting to witness the fierce love and sense of duty she felt towards her sister, Feen (which paralleled the relationship between Octavia and Tali). Davis also did an excellent job of showing the reader the disparity with which African Americans were treated during the war. They were good enough to fight but were still segregated in barracks, at drinking fountains and at nightclubs. Mare’s frustration is palpable:
“It is crazy to be here fighting for freedom and democracy when we are not free. It tears me up to wonder why we are here, why our colored men go down fighting, when things will stay the same at home.” (p. 195)
The only thing I felt was lacking was character connection. The plot was fast-paced and interesting, but I didn’t feel for the characters. Other than that, a solid story.
Pair with Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith.
Alternating chapters break the story down between “now” and “then”, but Mare’s story is where this book shines. The road trip parts were less interesting and seemed unnecessary to me at first, but Davis brought the two stories together nicely at the end. What stood out most to me are the themes of family, loyalty, and inequality. It was heartbreaking to see Mare struggle with her mother’s silence after she joined the WAC and uplifting to witness the fierce love and sense of duty she felt towards her sister, Feen (which paralleled the relationship between Octavia and Tali). Davis also did an excellent job of showing the reader the disparity with which African Americans were treated during the war. They were good enough to fight but were still segregated in barracks, at drinking fountains and at nightclubs. Mare’s frustration is palpable:
“It is crazy to be here fighting for freedom and democracy when we are not free. It tears me up to wonder why we are here, why our colored men go down fighting, when things will stay the same at home.” (p. 195)
The only thing I felt was lacking was character connection. The plot was fast-paced and interesting, but I didn’t feel for the characters. Other than that, a solid story.
Pair with Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith.
sewjess's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent novel that explores an area of history that is often forgotten about. In school we learn about the of slavery and the Harlem Renaissance, then jump to the Civil Rights Movement and figures such as MLK and Malcolm X. But there is no discussion about the time period in between, during WWI, the Depression, and WWII, this novel explores some of those aspects and now I will be seeking out other books that explore this time period in African American History.
erica_s's review against another edition
4.0
Two teenage sisters take a road trip with their grandma from the Bay Area to Alabama for a family reunion, and listen to her recount her experiences in the Women's Army Corps during World War 2. Riveting! Funny, too. The interplay of generations allows the author to comment & compare the two time periods, especially showing how women and African Americans have faced discrimination.
onetrooluff's review against another edition
3.0
I was really excited to read this book, as it was a premise I haven't seen covered before in fiction - African-American WACs and their service during WWII. The book is nicely done, including a lot of information about the life of a WAC and also of African-Americans during that time period. It manages not to get too preachy MOST of the time, although it's obvious the author wants to educate her readers as much as the two grandkids in the story, especially during mentions of Claudette Colvin or Juneteenth celebrations.
Still, the characters make the story compelling and it's a very interesting book. I was very sad at
Ok, mini-rant over... I think this is a great book for YA readers and will teach them a lot about both WAC service and what it was like to be an African-American in the '40s. Good stuff!
One last note - I really appreciated that the publisher didn't whitewash the cover, putting something inanimate on the cover or something to hide the fact that the book is about non-white people. Good job, publishers.
Still, the characters make the story compelling and it's a very interesting book. I was very sad at
Spoiler
how Mare's life turned out, though; I thought her mother's experiences would have taught her a lot better and I'm really bummed that she let herself get into that situation. I'm sure it's realistic, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.Ok, mini-rant over... I think this is a great book for YA readers and will teach them a lot about both WAC service and what it was like to be an African-American in the '40s. Good stuff!
One last note - I really appreciated that the publisher didn't whitewash the cover, putting something inanimate on the cover or something to hide the fact that the book is about non-white people. Good job, publishers.
canecat's review against another edition
5.0
I love this book! This was a wonderful story about family, and why we both love & hate them. I really enjoyed how it moved between the present trip and Mare's experience as a WAC in WWII. It was a great story about African Americans serving in WWII, both the good & bad. I finished the book with a smile & couldn't wait to post a review. I recommend it for anyone!!
dscfrazier's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable book. So many books are written about the male soldier experience during WWII, so it was refreshing to read a fictional account of a WAC, especially one about a black unit.
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.