Luke Under Fire: Caught Behind Enemy Lines by D. C. Reep and E. A. Allen

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MWSA Review

Luke Under Fire: Caught Behind Enemy Lines by D.C. Reep and E. A. Allen is a coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of World War I. In Michigan, seventeen-year-old Luke becomes embroiled in a fight that could lead to repercussions, but his father sends him to stay with his cousin in England until the uproar dies down. The two cousins decide to enlist shortly after war is declared and deploy to the trenches in Belgium. While the battle is raging, Luke’s company is told to hold their position. Battlefield communications being what they were, they never receive the orders to fall back. What follows is a harrowing story of Luke’s attempts to keep what’s left of his unit together, while trying to reconnect with the British army.

World War 1 seems to be a forgotten war, so this story for a young adult audience gives a good glimpse into what it was like for the combatants. The setting is well drawn, there is good emotional content for the characters, and a great use of present tense throughout to put the reader in the main character's shoes. Of note, the author deftly handles the use of swearing by the soldiers so that the reader is not inundated with F-bombs. ("He takes out his water bottle, drinks, and swears an oath that would shock even my dad.")

Review by Betsy Beard (March 2024)
 

Author's Synopsis

Michigan teen Luke Sawyer and his English cousin enlist in the British army to see the world. But it's 1914, and they are caught in WW1. Ordered to resist to the end and outnumbered, the teens face the advancing Germans. On the roaring battlefield, in a German prison, with a desperate escape and a race to freedom, Luke fights to save his friends and survive The Great War.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Young Adult (fiction or non-fiction)

Number of Pages: 200

Word Count: 66,422

Rusty, The Wonder Dog by Jesse Hillman

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Author's Synopsis: "Rusty, the Wonder Dog" is the story of a blind rescue puppy, who came to live with his humans and found a good life full of treats, warm blankets and plenty of petting and love. Rusty wandered off as a little puppy chasing a butterfly, and he had a close brush with a car on the highway. He could only see shadows after that, but he could hear anything and smell anything miles away! He made friends with Isis, the Siamese cat, Dasha, a great guard dog, and Alphie, who was rescued as he stood on the yellow line of a highway. They seemed to know quickly that Rusty couldn't see. They guided him down the back steps into the yard. Alphie would run ahead and bark so Rusty would follow. Dasha would walk him shoulder to shoulder down the steps. Then they'd run as fast as they could to the back fence and screech to a halt and run back. Rusty loved to place his nose on his human's knee and beg for a treat. And it always worked! Isis the cat loved to pounce on him which made Alphie and Dasha laugh. The four of them would line up in front of the TV to watch it while Rusty listened. He lived with his humans and loved them as much as they loved him. Over that time, slowly Isis, Dasha and Alphie left their mom and dad and followed the rainbow. One day, it was Rusty's turn to follow a pretty butterfly to the rainbow. On the other side, his friends were waiting for him. They play and run every day in the green grass, sniff the flowers, and snuggle together.

Genre(s): Picture Book

Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-7361525-1-5, 978-1-7361525-2-2

Sebastian's Tale by Dylan Weiss

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MWSA Review

In Sebastian's Tale, author Dylan Weiss has written an entertaining story about a young skunk, Sebastian, and his weasel friend during their first year after leaving home. Sebastian was born without his stripes and his friend has an overweight issue. Both are bullied by their peers, but despite these factors, Sebastian learns that an ancient family prophecy claims that he will do great things to save the skunks and weasels. In doing so, he will grow his stripes and become a leader among skunks. When it comes time to leave their family homes, the two have several misadventures, and it's not until they meet a human who has the ability to communicate with all animals that things start to make sense to them. 

This book is an easy read. Sebastian's Tale reinforces the need for humans to take care of the environment and to remember that our encroachment into forest lands impacts the wildlife that is already there.  I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy stories about animals and nature.

MWSA Review by Bob Doerr (June 2018)

Author's Synopsis

Sebastian’s Tale is a fast paced, allegorical coming of age adventure.  As the story develops, readers discover, along with our hero, a lovable stripeless skunk, and his sidekick, a clever but oft misguided weasel,
exactly what is destroying Penn’s Woods.

Together Sebastian and Willie learn how to battle this menacing new enemy threatening life as we know it on earth. Although the telling is a fantasy, in reality the author hopes that lessons learned by Sebastian
and his woodland friends are embraced by children and young adults who choose to protect our environment against the degradation brought on by present day pollution.

ISBN/ASIN: B01LWHXS5B
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Genre(s): Fantasy/Sci Fi, Young Adult
Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Young Adult (fiction or non-fiction)
Number of Pages: 197
 

Through My Daughter's Eyes by Julia Dye

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MWSA Review

Through My Daughter’s Eyes by Julia Dye presents a military family from the first-person perspective of their seventh grade daughter, Abbie. With unerring accuracy, Dye depicts the preteen mind, with all its angst, emotion, and hard-earned wisdom. What’s unusual in this coming of age story, though, is that Abbie must deal not only with the turbulence of the middle school years, but do it in the context of the particular stresses pressed upon military families whose loved one is deployed to a combat theater. 

During her father’s 14-month deployment to the Middle East, Abbie struggles with classmates who dismissively taunt her about her father’s absence, her own sadness, her mother’s increasing inability to cope, and the growing estrangement between her parents and herself. 

While aimed at the young adult audience, this book can also hold the attention of adults, whether they are from a military background or not. Military families will find much (maybe all) they have in common with the Mathews family, sharing their journey from pre-deployment jitters through post-deployment post traumatic stress. Nonmilitary families will gain a better understanding of the small percentage of the population that is still willing to lay their lives on the line for their country and for freedom for all.

MWSA Reviewer: Betsy Beard (Feb 2018)

Author's Synopsis

Through My Daughter’s Eyes is a one-of-a-kind, much-needed look at what it means to come of age in a military family today.

Our middle school heroine Abbie is wiser than her years—and most of the adults in her life, for that matter. Equal parts Flavia de Luce and Harriet the Spy, Abbie describes her life this way: “My best friend and fellow Army-brat Megan and I had a plan to get through Dessau Middle School (Go Diamondbacks!) by being just good enough to not get noticed and not so good we’d be picked out for any attention. And it worked—for a while.

"Then my dad got deployed—again—and mom fell apart, leaving me in charge of my own life and, it seemed, everyone else’s. When Dad came home after about a hundred-million years, he wasn’t much help, either. I know war is terrible, but it’s not like he talks to me about it, so how was I supposed to know what to do? He’s not even the same dad that left.

"I turned to my grandpa for help, but in the end, I had to let go of being the glue that kept everything together. I had to learn to give my parents room to save themselves—and our family.”

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1944353148
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Genre(s): Fiction, Young Adult
Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Young Adult (fiction or non-fiction)
Number of Pages: 190
 

Jacqueline by Jackie Minniti

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MWSA Review

Author Jackie Minniti weaves a poignant tale of fear, friendship, hope, and faith in Jacqueline. This novel is based on the true story of ten-year-old Catholic Jacqueline and twelve-year-old Jewish David, during the final years of the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. It is set in the town of Rennes and is a tale for both young and old.

Through bombings, air raids, ever-present hunger, constant fear, and death, Jacqueline, her widowed mother, and David live through the war. One day, when Jacqueline and David are away from their apartment building, the Nazis round up David’s family and ship them off to a transfer camp before their likely shipment to a concentration camp, and Jacqueline’s mother takes him under her wing and into her home.

War stories are not totally about armies and battles. They are about ideas, implementation of those ideas, and how that implementation affects ordinary people. Jacqueline lets the reader see the war through a child’s eye, which is perhaps the purest version of war…and the most touching. Among other heart-wrenching events, the great tragedy for Jacqueline and David may have been losing their childhoods.

The text is written in a way that flows smoothly, and the dialogue seems quite realistic. I think children of middle grades and beyond would find the book both enlightening and interesting. It is also a touching read for adults.

Minniti’s story resonates for all children, regardless of nationality, and is especially relevant for youngsters who find themselves in the midst of strife around the world today. It is a gem to read, and the author unequivocally allows the reader to feel the impact of war on young people. I would read it again and recommend it to friends, young and older.

MWSA Reviewer: Patricia Walkow (Feb 2018)

Author's Synopsis
When ten-year-old Jacqueline Falna hears her mother’s scream, she is unaware that
the axis of her world is about to tilt. Her father’s plane has been shot down by German fighters. In the midst of poverty, food shortages, air raids, and the grinding hardship of  daily life under Nazi rule, she forms an unlikely alliance with David Bergier, a twelve-year-old Jewish neighbor who poses as her cousin after his family is “relocated” by the Nazis. When Rennes is liberated, Jacqueline meets an American soldier and becomes convinced that he has been sent to reunite her with her father. 

Based on a true story, “Jacqueline” is a tale of family, faith, unusual friendships, and
the resiliency of the human spirit set against the backdrop of occupied Rennes in
1944. With the drama of fiction and the authenticity of personal history, “Jacqueline” 
is both a story about family and a family’s story.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-10: 0996329080, ISBN-13: 978-0996329088, ASIN: B011SCVPJS
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Genre(s): Fiction, Historical Fiction
Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Chapter Book
Number of Pages: 219
 

Americana A Civics Handbook Second Edition; by Mary B. Mackley

MWSA Review
Americana A Civics Handbook is a great reference book that all high school students should have available to them. I applaud Mary B. Mackley for the hard work she must have put into compiling the book. Filled with copies of relevant documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, official portraits of our nation's founders and historic buildings, Mackley put this book together as an educational resource devoid of any personal beliefs or political positions. The book covers the presidents, lists the states and when they came into the union, identifies the national parks, and so on.

I am going to ensure that my grandkids know I have this book, and when they are in high school, I will do my best to get them to read it! And don't let me mislead you - this book is appropriate for older folks like me, too! I recommend this book for everyone.
Reviewed by Bob Doerr, MWSA Reviewer

Author's Synopsis:
Embrace the foundations of our Nation. All ages will enjoy this book from the 5th grade up through adult years. It is a handy resource for first time learning, review or reference. The book focuses on the early years of America but there is so much more historical information, facts and trivia included. There is an easy to follow chronology focusing on Colonial times and the Revolutionary War era, leading up to the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. You will have your own copy of these historical documents. Also included is information about the Presidents, First Ladies, the Original Thirteen Colonies, Three Branches of Government, the Fifty States, National Symbols, Electoral College, Pledge of Allegiance and more. The U.S. Citizenship Test of 100 questions is included and  is excellent for civics or citizenship studies, as well as letting you test your own civics proficiency.
     There is a special note on the National Parks...their history and how they preserve our American heritage. There are many sites of historic importance and natural beauty preserved for our benefit. There are lists of the National Parks related to Colonial and Revolutionary War times, Sites of Remembrance (for our Veterans), and of our most cherished National Parks. The author hopes that readers might be inspired to visit some of these historic sites and places.  And lastly, the author hopes to make a contribution to civics education.
     There are over 50 pages of historical sketches and images. Book size is 8.5" x 11"  and was revised January 2017.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1514221563
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Genre(s): Nonfiction, History, Reference, Young Adult
Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Young Adult (fiction or non-fiction)
Number of Pages: 298