My Wartime Summers

This funny, sensitive novel is about an American child's experience at home during World War II, the adventure and urgency, and also the sorrow and anticlimax. Ellen Parker, 11, can't wait for her beloved Uncle Bob to join the army. She knows he'll be a hero and get medals. But when [he] is sent to fight in France, his letters lose their playfulness . . . Each episode on the home front is beautifully structured, building to its own climax, yet part of a unified story. -Starred/Booklist