Book-Reviews

A Boy No More, by Harry Mazer; Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing: New York, zoo4; $15.95 Harry Mazer’s book, A Boy No More, is set during World War II. On December 7, 1941, Adam Pelko, a fourteen-year-old boy, and his friends Davi and Martin were in a rowboat when the bombs fell on the USS Arizona on which Adam’s father served. This was the legendary Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Soon afterwards, Adam was evacuated from Hawaii with his family and moved to San Diego to start a new life. The author adopted the perspective of Adam to tell this page-turning adventure. I find this point of view makes World War II seem a lot clearer, especially because it is so remote in time to me. In the vivid descriptions, I felt Adam’s struggle to survive life without his father, his need to be responsible and work to help his family, his bonding friendship with Davi, and his frustration at others who were either lazy or counterproductive. In the second chapter Adam recalls, “I saw my father’s ship, that great battleship the USS Arizona, explode and sink.” This scene reminds me of when my family went to Hawaii for a vacation two years ago. We visited USS Arizona Memorial Center at Pearl Harbor. When I was standing on the memorial that straddled the sunken battleship’s hull, I could still see the roof of the cabins and the smokestack. There were trickles of oil seeping to the surface of the water around the ship, making the water murky, dark, and shiny. I was saddened by the death of the sailors in Pearl Harbor. Even though I am so far in history from World War II, I have witnessed a similar horrifying catastrophe in my day: the collapsing of the Twin Towers on September II, 2001. I remember clearly when I saw the planes hit the Twin Towers on the television. I recall the loud sirens, the burning flames and the people running on the streets, and finally, the whole building slowly collapsing into black smoke. A Boy No More is a captivating story about history that we should remember. Harry Mazer wrote another book about Adam and Davi, which I will read, called A Boy at War. Some other stories around this time frame are Don’t You Know There’s a War On? by Avi, and Bat 6 by Virginia Euwer Wolff. I strongly suggest that anyone who is interested in learning about the history of World War II read this book. Dylan Sun, 10Califon, New Jersey

The Voice That Challenged a Nation, by Russell Freedman; Clarion Books: New York, 2oo4; $18 Marian Anderson was a great opera singer during the 1930s and 1940s. She was also an African- American. Marian was born on February 27, 1897, in South Philadelphia. She was the oldest of three daughters of John and Anna Anderson. At age twelve, Marian lost her committed father to death. Her mother had to raise her three daughters by herself. Marian worked to help her mother by scrubbing steps and running errands for her mother with her sisters. Today it is very unlikely that a kid would be scrubbing steps in an urban area like Philadelphia. It amazed me how the family worked together to make ends meet. Whenever she got money from her performances it was usually five dollars, and she gave her mother two dollars, gave one to each of her sisters and kept one for herself. Even though I think that today’s kids are very caring, I think that not many would give their hard-earned money away like this, especially to their younger siblings. Marian got through school and was able to afford music lessons because the Union Baptist Church, which she attended, raised money for her. She had joined the senior and junior choirs and never missed a Sunday with them. She was very dedicated to these choirs and loved to sing. I was amazed at this symbol of unity in the African- American culture as well as the American culture in general. Her goal at that time was to be able to study and improve her voice at a certain school. However, when she went there for an application, she was turned down because she was black. The way the author described the situation made me livid. A singer with a voice like Marian’s deserved to be heard and accepted at a famous and first-class school. This incident made her wonder why she wasn’t able to get an application because, even though she was black, she knew she sang amazingly well and she had great potential. However, she did go on and I believe that this incident helped her to overcome some of the other surprises that were caused by prejudice along the way. What Marian went through to be recognized in mainstream America made me distressed and perplexed. How could a country that proclaimed “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” for all be so cruel and prejudiced toward one of its own? Even after Marian became famous in Europe and loved in America, the Daughters of the American Revolution denied her the right to sing at Constitution Hall. Many people stood by Marian, including Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady at the time. Eleanor went so far as to resign from her position in the DAR in order to protest against Marian’s rejection to sing at Constitution Hall. On April 9, 1939, Marian sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to thousands of people, being “the voice that challenged a nation.” She sang two more times at the Lincoln Memorial, one being in 1963, at the Civil Rights March, when Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1955, she became the first African-American soloist at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She led the way for many artists, including her nephew, James DePriest, who was able to conduct a series of concerts in Constitution Hall. She was not only extraordinary because of her voice, but also her strength, dignity and character, which shone through her voice. She was an inspiration and role model, not only for African-Americans, but also people of all nations. Akeyla Todd, 12Bronx, New York

Counting Thyme, by Melanie Conklin; G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers: New York, 2016; $16.99 When I’m picking out books to read, I usually try to avoid the sad ones. Counting Thyme is definitely ranked amongst the saddest books I’ve ever read, and yet it lies with my favorites. How? Maybe it’s because the underlying theme of hope even through sadness with hints of humor scattered throughout gives it a unique touch like no other book I’ve read. Maybe it’s because this book does not avoid stunning reality, like others do. All I am sure of is that I would and will choose to read Counting Thyme again and again, and each time I will enjoy it as much as I did the first time. I am willing to do anything for my brother. That’s what Thyme thinks. Her little brother, Val, has cancer, and she’s ready to do whatever it takes to help him. And wait—there’s a chance to cure Val, and it’s a special test in New York. Thyme’s family. temporarily moves to an apartment in New York, because this new treatment opens too many opportunities to ignore. People who have siblings, like I do, can relate to the struggle she went through between doing what was best for her brother and doing what she truly wanted. Of course, Thyme is very happy for Val, but… moving. Away from her friends, and her house, and everything that she can call home. In my whole life, I have never moved. However, I have had friends that have moved far away, and so I understand having a best friend move away and can only imagine how much worse it would be to lose all your friends. The first week, you start out thinking that you can always keep in touch and call each other or email each other. But you just start drifting farther and farther away—not physically, but emotionally. And within the third week, it is all but a dream. Sure—you might email sometimes, but, as Thyme finds out, there’s a big difference between actually talking to someone, and hanging out with them, and just communicating electronically. Speaking of friends, Thyme isn’t especially eager to have her cool, popular new classmates see Val bald and in a stroller at five years old. They might think he’s odd, and weird, and if they start thinking that about Val, they’ll start thinking it about Thyme, too. I know that people in school can be mean and judgmental. People are always looking at what you’re wearing and don’t necessarily think before they speak. Luckily, busy with her best friend in her old school, Thyme hadn’t noticed school drama. But in her new school, she is tossed into the middle of a lot of drama. Did I mention that the move was temporary? So why is Thyme’s old best friend reporting a “for sale” sign at Thyme’s old house? Thyme’s parents never said anything about selling their house. Thyme never even thought about it. This move was supposed to be temporary—only temporary. So are Thyme’s parents hiding something fishy, or is her best friend wrong? I would be outraged and hurt if my parents told me that a move was temporary—and then sold our old home. Hopefully, Thyme can get to the bottom of this and figure out what’s really going on! Thyme finds out what “home” really means to her in this touching and unique, tear-encouraging book. Along the way, she might make some unexpected friends! Samantha Abrishami, 11McLean, Virginia