Newberry-winning author of A Year Down Yonder
We went on a road trip to beautiful Sun Valley, Idaho last week as a family. We had a wonderful time, and part of that wonderful time is attributable to this great book, by one of my favorite authors. My husband and I both really enjoyed it, and my boys thought it was good- although we had to skip the scary porch story telling in order to make sure we weren’t up all night with ghostly imaginings.
Lincoln Hoppe, the voice for the story was absolutely spell-binding. Especially his old lady voices, “Where’s mine? Where’s mine?” the old lady asking for her cake had us giggling in appreciation at his excellent portrayals.
This is Peck’s 30th novel for young adults and was written to pay tribute to his father, a WWI veteran. You will see the resemblance to the father in the book who is also a WWI vet. It makes you wonder how much Davy resembles Peck himself. Davy and his friend get themselves into all kinds of scrapes and trouble- just the kind you would imagine all boys getting into during WWII. Cobwebby attics and buckshot filled barns- along with street games that make you pine for simpler days. Not easier, just simpler because communities were more cohesive and people really looked out for one another.
Davy’s older brother Bill is everyone’s hometown hero. When he goes off to fly B-17s in WWII, your heart drops into your stomach because you want so much for him to come home safe. I was incredulous to learn that when his plane was shot down, it didn’t count toward his quota of missions to fly because the mission wasn’t completed. That’s just idiotic- but I’m sure it happened more than once.
I think this book would make a great gift for either my father or father-in-law. My only complaint, and I think it would be their’s as well is the boy scout part. Davy gives up on boy scouts because he is so disappointed by some of the things other scouts do- one scout in particular, who falls from his place as a knight in shining armor when he participates in stealing papers from younger scouts in order to win a medal for a war-effort paper drive. Davy doesn’t see the point of scouts after that and hangs up his gold and blue bandana forever. As we all know, there are people who don’t have integrity in every organization and if we base our decision to be part of an organization on the integrity of every individual therein, we wouldn’t be a part of anything. I was disappointed that Davy’s parents let him so easily give up on a great program for kids.
So, I was talking to Cari and she said that she was planning on reviewing this book, and I told her I was too. Since I listened to it on audio and I wanted to make sure to include how wonderful Hoppe’s voice work was, I won the coin toss (okay, it wasn’t exactly a coin toss). This isn’t a double scoop (although it’s really good, and quite possibly could have made the cut, but we already have a Richard Peck book on the list). But, just so Cari can add her two cents, now it’s her turn:
Well let’s see I read On Wings of Heroes back in January and it was on my to be reviewed list. I was talking to Holly and come to find out she just listened to it on audio. What are the chances that we would both read and want to review the same book, especially when we had already planned a doublescoop for one of his other books? Anyway I fell in love with Richard Peck’s writing then and there. His writing is genius, the words flow and bounce through your head like a delightful stream. I loved his characters. They are so full of life. And then there are the pranks, which makes me wonder what his childhood was like. If I wanted to play a practical joke Richard Peck would be one of my sources for coming up with one.
I appreciated the way he told what life was like during WWII, not only was Bill off fighting the war, but everyone dealt with rations. Rations for sugar, for tires, for shoes and gas. Everyone was affected even if they were not a soldier. You also saw the struggle of both Davy’s parents – his dad who had been injured in WWI so he knew the harsh realities of war and wondered about Bill’s safety. And then his mother trying to deal with her son, gone and maybe dead while trying to support the war effort at the same time. On Wings of Heroes is the right mix of humor and realism to give you a feel for what war was like on the home front.
Check out our other reviews on Richard Peck’s books A Long Way From Chicago and our April double scoop, A Year Down Yonder.
I love the fast-paced adventurous writing of Carol Matas. This book is no disappointment, opening with a Jew hunt by Germans with dogs. It gave me shivers down my spine. How she rescues the two unfortunate girls is hilarious and gives the needed comic relief to a book with so much seriousness.
Karin Levi is one of the lucky Jews to escape France alive, with her brother Marc. To be a Jew in France, during Hitler’s occupation, was basically a death sentence. Follow the complex path of Karin and Marc as they move, under cover of darkness from place to place, searching for safety. Eventually the siblings reach Italy and are able to secure passage on the Henry Gibbons, a ship sent to Naples to bring refugees to America. Along the way, Karin composes letters to her Maman, who is supposed to catch up to them when she is better.
Ruth Mendenberg, a Polish Jew, has survived one of the most atrocious experiences in history; the Holocaust. She returns to her village in Poland, hoping to hear of someone in her family also having survived. Ruth finds no one, and is treated abominably by her uncle’s former maid, who is wearing her mother’s dress and living in the family home. Fifteen and all alone, Ruth has no desire to live. She exists in a state of numbness wondering why she had the misfortune to survive when everyone she ever loved is gone.
I read this book after first finding and reading its sequel, A Year Down Yonder. This is a great family read-aloud, or car-trip audio. Joey and his sister Mary Alice spend a week every summer visiting their Grandma Dowdel. Why the parents never come for a visit becomes apparent when you find out the quirks and looming domination that are Grandma Dowdel. Any daughter-in-law would be petrified and find good reason why only her children needed to visit.
This is a non-fiction book about one of Baseball’s best players. Satchel Paige played during a time of racial segregation in our nation’s favorite pastime. Satchel overcame a difficult childhood to become famous among black fans. Satchel Paige was overlooked by mainstream media and ‘regular’ fans. At one point when Satchel’s Negro League team played a white team, Satchel proved that he was the best by having all the other players sit down and he threw straight strike outs, until the other team apologized for their disbelief and racial remarks.
