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A review by ckeller48
Across a War-Tossed Sea by L.M. Elliott
2.0
The basic premise of the book follows Wesley and Charles, two brothers who were sent over from England as child refugees during WWII. They live with a family that are somehow connected through their father, though the reasoning isn't quite explained.
There's plenty of parts that are attempted here - the social constructs of segregation in the South, the treatment of POWs, the Nazi regime, the adjustment of boys to the American way of life. However, none of them were particularly well-executed. The boys come off as whiny often and their growth with their foster family - particularly with difficult child Ronald - is not all that engaging.
What really drove me nuts, however, was the fact that this book can even be labeled as YA when the writing is so juvenile. The main characters are 10 (Wesley) and 14 (Charles) at the beginning of the book, though a few years pass over the span. I understand that they're young, but even the actual writing about them is written so that a second grader could pick this book up and follow the plot. I think it could work as juvenile fiction, but it's just an insult to put this in the YA category with how watered down the actual writing is.
Overall, the story itself isn't bad, but the writing and uninteresting characters make it hard to get through.
There's plenty of parts that are attempted here - the social constructs of segregation in the South, the treatment of POWs, the Nazi regime, the adjustment of boys to the American way of life. However, none of them were particularly well-executed. The boys come off as whiny often and their growth with their foster family - particularly with difficult child Ronald - is not all that engaging.
What really drove me nuts, however, was the fact that this book can even be labeled as YA when the writing is so juvenile. The main characters are 10 (Wesley) and 14 (Charles) at the beginning of the book, though a few years pass over the span. I understand that they're young, but even the actual writing about them is written so that a second grader could pick this book up and follow the plot. I think it could work as juvenile fiction, but it's just an insult to put this in the YA category with how watered down the actual writing is.
Overall, the story itself isn't bad, but the writing and uninteresting characters make it hard to get through.