A little girl's father helps her get over her fear of the dark before he goes off to war, and she uses the stars they painted on her ceiling to remind her of him while he is away.
Ignatius "Brother" Alderman, nearly twelve, promises to help his grandparents keep the family's Oregon ranch the same while his brothers are away and his father is deployed to Iraq, but as he comes to accept the inevitability of change, he also sees the man he is meant to be.
Also available on audio.
"Davy Bowman’s brother and their dad hung the moon. Dad looks forward to Halloween more than a kid, and Davy’s brother, Bill, flies B-17s. Davy adores these two heroes and tries his best to follow their lead, especially now. World War II has invaded Davy’s homefront boyhood. There’s an air raid drill in the classroom, and being a kid is an endless scrap drive. Bill has joined up, breaking their dad’s heart. It’s an intense, confusing time, and one that will invite Davy to grow up in a hurry. Still, Richard Peck is a master of comedy, and even in this novel of wartime uncertainty, he infuses his tale with humor: oddballs and rascals and boyhood misadventures alongside the poignant moments."
A horse recalls his experiences growing up on an English farm, his struggle for survival as a cavalry horse during World War I, and his reunion with his beloved master.
In their Pennsylvania town in 1942 twelve-year-old Charlotte and her classmates collect scrap metal for the war effort only to have it disappear from the school basement.
Part of the History Mysteries series.
A boy and his father come from far away to visit the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington and find the name of the boy's grandfather, who was killed in the conflict.
In 1918, caring for her family's homing pigeons while her father is away fighting in World War I, twelve-year-old Pam comes to suspect that a mysterious stranger in her small North Carolina town is a German spy.
Part of the History Mysteries series.
Living in Holland during the Nazi occupation, Johanna takes comfort in watching the town’s clock tower from her attic window. Every hour, twelve metal figures on horseback parade out in a joyous salute. When the Germans threaten to melt down the “little riders” for ammunition, Johanna bravely risks danger to save them.
On her sixth birthday, Julietta's grandfather gives her one of his beautiful homing pigeons and tells her a story of his experience raising and training doves in Italy during the Great War.
By Meindert De Jong, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
Young Tien Pao is alone on his parents' boat when it breaks free of its moorings and plunges down river into Japanese occupied territory. Bravely, he starts the long journey back to his village. The boy and his pet pig, Glory of the Republic, meet sixty American pilots stationed in China during World War II who care for him. Based on a true story.
