A review by marmoset737
Mare's War by Tanita S. Davis

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.