Foster's War

While World War II wages on overseas, young Foster Simmons must find a way to make peace at home as the stress of the times is greatly effecting everyone he knows and loves. Reprint.

Grade 5-7?Foster, 11, isn't sure whether it's the war with Japan he should fear more or the war in his own southern California household. To escape their father's psychological abuse, his older brother Mel has left school and enlisted in the Air Force. The three younger siblings have developed various coping strategies to escape their father's cruel and damaging behavior. The man expects perfection from his children and his wife, who attempts to placate him and be the peacemaker. Against this explosive backdrop, the family learns of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Now they must worry about possible Japanese air raids as well as Mel's safety. Foster finds himself coping with bewildering changes, including the loss of his best friend, a Japanese-American boy relocated to an internment camp. He and an understanding elderly neighbor become friends, and this relationship helps him through some difficult times. The period details are well presented: the importance of the radio, the homefront groups mobilizing the war effort, weekly reports in Life magazine. However, the father is a difficult character to appreciate. Like his children, readers are expected to overcome a thorough dislike of him too quickly. To understand his background does not help to forgive him his treatment of innocents. The long-suffering mother will also be difficult for young readers to accept, but her behavior and attitudes are true to the era. A flawed effort about World War II and the war effort at home.?Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
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