35 Going on 13: War Through the Eyes of Youth
By Angelina BenedettiAug 16, 2010
War [huh] yeah
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
While Edwin Starr's lyrics spoke to a political point, they are off the mark so far as teen literature is concerned. War makes for compelling reading. And though two of my favorites-Mal Peet's Tamar and Walter Dean Myers's Fallen Angels-appeared in the 2/19/09 and 10/15/09 columns, respectively, there are still plenty of great stories to choose from.
These nine are just the beginning.
Freedman, Russell. The War to End All Wars: World War I. Clarion. 2010. 176p. photogs. ISBN 978-0-547-02686-2. $22. HIST
The most-decorated writer of nonfiction for children and teens tackles the Great War. Combining succinct, elegant, and chilling photographs, Freedman (himself a veteran) brings to life the horrors faced by soldiers and civilians alike through the first war to employ modern weapons and battle strategy. Sadly, the lens of history tells us that this was only the beginning and not the war to end them all.
Greene, Bette. Summer of My German Soldier. Puffin. (Modern Classics). 2006. 230p. ISBN 978-0-1424-0651-9. pap. $6.99. F
From the newest book on the list to the oldest. As a teen, I reread this 1973 tearjerker every summer, longing for the romantic adventure of its heroine, Patty Bergen. That it is still in print and still taught in classrooms today is a testament to its emotional resonance. Patty is a Jewish girl living in Arkansas, where the U.S. military has established a POW camp for German prisoners of World War II. Anton is an escaped soldier whom Patty hides above the family garage. Patty's feelings for Anton are part romance, part friendship, and part father worship. Although it ends tragically (and how could it not?), their relationship gives Patty the strength to endure her emotionally distant and abusive family.
Marsden, John. Tomorrow, When the War Began. Scholastic. 2006. 277p. ISBN 978-0-439-82910-6. pap. $8.99. F
Ellie and six of her friends are on holiday camping in the Australian bush when their country is invaded by a foreign enemy. They return home to discover that their friends and families have been herded into prison camps, their pets starving or killed outright. Thus begins a seven-book saga chronicling the adventures of a small band of teens determined to stay free and fight against impossible odds. Since their publication in the mid-1990s, the "Tomorrow" books have remained one of the best-selling series in Australia. Although the fictional invading army is never identified, the impact of war on civilians rings nonetheless true.
Morpurgo, Michael. Private Peaceful. Scholastic. 2004. 202p. ISBN 978-0-439-63653-7. $6.99. F
Seventeen-year-old Pvt. Thomas (Tommo) Peaceful stands watch through a sleepless night, recalling how he and his beloved older brother Charlie came to be soldiers in a war they do not understand. Tommo's memories introduce their close-knit family, cruel landlords, and Molly, the girl loved by both brothers. We learn that Charlie left his post to care for his injured brother, a fateful decision in the British Army, where soldiers were routinely killed for lesser offenses. As the young soldier counts the minutes to dawn, it is clear this is not going to end well.
Nelson, Pete. Left for Dead: A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis. Delacorte. 2003. 201p. ISBN 978-0-385-73091-4. pap. $8.95. HIST
One voice can change the course of history, or at least how it is remembered. When the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in the Pacific, more than 1000 survivors were left floating in shark-infested waters. Five days later, only 317 remained, the rest having succumbed to dehydration, sleep psychosis, exposure, or shark attack. The Navy had failed to send rescue to the worst disaster in its history and then court-martialed the ship's captain to cover its mistake. The one voice belongs to Hunter Scott, whose middle-school history fair project shed new light on the tragedy, drew the attention of Congress, and ultimately resulted in the posthumous pardon of its shamed captain. The story of Hunter's crusade for justice makes the truly gruesome first-person accounts of those five days in the water bearable, resulting in one riveting read.
Paulsen, Gary. Soldier's Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers. Laurel Leaf. 2000. 128p. ISBN 978-0-440-22838-7. pap. $6.50. BIOG
First published in 1998, this story of the Civil War as seen through the eyes of 15-year-old Charley Goddard is less bearable. Paulsen spares the reader nothing in this first-person account, based on a true story. You can smell the rot and feel Charley's sickness as he experiences the horrors and mental toll of fighting at Bull Run and Gettysburg. While a strong stomach is a requisite, the payoff is some of the most compelling and immediate writing for teens on the subject of war. Charley does return to his home in Minnesota, only to die in his early twenties, a victim of his "soldier's heart."
Perkins, Mitali. Bamboo People. Charlesbridge. 2010. 272p. ISBN 978-1-58089-328-2. $16.95. F
Far from the battlefields of our own nation's Civil War comes a story of civil conflict in modern Myanmar (formerly Burma). Chiko, 15, does not know where his next meal will come from. His surgeon father has been arrested, and his mother does not want him to leave the house. Her worst fears are realized when scholarly Chiko answers an ad for teachers and is conscripted to fight as a child soldier. By contrast, Tu Reh has always wanted to fight on the side of the Karenni resistance. Indicative of many of Myanmar's oppressed minorities, the Karenni exist in refugee camps along the country's border. When Tu Reh discovers Chiko injured in the forest, the two boys forge a friendship despite their nation's troubled circumstances.
Rylant, Cynthia. I Had Seen Castles. Graphia: Houghton Harcourt. 2004. 97p. ISBN 978-0-152-05312-3. $5.95. F
First published in 1993, Rylant's spare classic is first and foremost a love story. John Dante is 17 and cannot wait to enlist after bombs rain over Pearl Harbor. As burning as his desire for revenge is his love for Ginny, the beautiful pacifist who tries to convince him not to go. She believes the cost of war is always too high. Fifty years later, an older and wiser John recounts their passion-now lost to history-and concludes, "Ginny, I want you to know that I am really alive. And I still love you." Treat yourself to a bittersweet hour in the company of these two remarkable lovers.
White, Ellen Emerson. The Road Home. Scholastic. 1995. 464p. ISBN 978-0-590-46737-7. $15.95. F
While I make a point of not including out-of-print titles in this column, I am making an exception for this unforgettable story of an army nurse's journey home from Vietnam. On the day two of her best friends are killed, Rebecca loses both her moral virginity and her sense of humor. She has withstood weeks in triage without sleep, hopped up on amphetamines, making life-and-death decisions without time to consider the consequences. Until she meets Mike. Her romantic interest in the young soldier is complicated by her fear that one day he will arrive in her emergency room. Her fears are realized, and Mike is sent home without a leg, leaving her alone to endure the remainder of her tour. Nothing she has experienced prepares her for the pain of coming back to her life in Boston-back to face a disapproving father, a dead fiancé, and a brother gone to Canada to avoid the draft. Only Mike (an alcoholic shell of his former self) understands her confusion, and the two navigate the path together on "the road home." This work and White's brilliant "Echo Company" series are well worth the time spent hunting them down through the secondary book market and interlibrary loan.
