As a digital subscriber, you’ll receive unlimited access to Horn Book web exclusives and extensive archives, as well as access to our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database.
To access other site content, visit The Horn Book homepage.
To continue you need an active subscription to hbook.com.
Subscribe now to gain immediate access to everything hbook.com has to offer, as well as our highly searchable Guide/Reviews Database, which contains tens of thousands of short, critical reviews of books published in the United States for young people.
Thank you for registering. To have the latest stories delivered to your inbox, select as many free newsletters as you like below.
No thanks. Return to article
267 pp.
| Scholastic |
January, 1998 |
TradeISBN 0-590-09846-2
(4)
4-6
World War II is the background for the story of a troubled family whose authoritarian father alienates all its members. The historical details, from air raid drills to the internment of Japanese Americans, are thoroughly researched, but the characters seem constructed rather than developed. The focus is split between external forces--the war--and internal struggles within the family so that the two seemed yoked rather than joined.