| Booktalk
#1
It's December 1940 and 15 year
old Adam has just moved to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where his father is a
lieutenant on the battleship Arizona. Needless to say, there's no
snow for Christmas here in Hawaii and making friends in another new town
can be hard, especially when your father forbids you to associate with
anyone who's Japanese. Disregarding his father's orders, Adam sneaks
out of the house for an early morning fishing trip with his Japanese friend.
His is looking across the harbor at his father's ship when his attention
is drawn to the sky. "Just then he became aware of the whine of
planes in the air. He looked up. High overhead, dozens of planes
flew in formation approaching in every direction. Some planes were
coming in low over the water. It must be some kind of military exercise,
Adam thought. A war game." When war comes to your home
it can take only a few moments for everything in your life to change --
the way you feel about your friends, your family, yourself and your country.
A Boy At War is a non-stop story that has plenty of action but
leaves you thinking, what would YOU do in Adam's place and how would YOU
feel? Don't miss it! (New
Hampshire Great Stone Face Committee)
Booktalk #2
It’s
a sunny morning in early December. You’re fishing with your buddies in
Pearl Harbor . Suddenly there are planes and bombs and guns! You don’t
know what to do. You know your father is an officer on the U.S.S. Arizona
there in the harbor. What has happened to him? What is happening to you?
As the days pass after December 7, 1941, Adam must come to terms with his
Japanese-American friends, his father’s possible death and his place in
this new and terrible world.
Prepared
by: Becky James for The
South Carolina Children's Book Award nominees 2005
Booktalk #3
Teenaged Adam Pelko just moved with his family to Honolulu, Hawaii, where
his Dad is a Naval Lieutenant stationed on the USS Arizona. You’d think
Adam would enjoy living in “Paradise”, but his Dad is very strict. Early
one sunny December morning, Adam sneaks off with his buddies to go fishing
in the harbor. Imagine their horror when they hear a whirring sound and
look up to see Japanese fighter planes overhead. Soon the bombs are falling
on the on the battleships in Pearl Harbor, including the USS Arizona, with
Adam’s Dad on board.
“They rowed hard, away from the battleships and the bombs. Water sprayed
over them. The rowboat pitched one way and then the other. Then, before
his eyes, the Arizona lifted up out of the water. That enormous battleship
bounced up in the air like a rubber ball and split apart. Fire burst out
of the ship. A geyser of water shot into the air and came crashing down.
Adam was almost thrown out of the rowboat. He clung to the seat as it swung
around. He saw blue skies and the glittering city. The boat swung back
again, and he saw black clouds, and the Arizona, his father's ship, sinking
beneath the water.”
The boys are stunned and one is hurt. This looks like a war movie…not real
life. But as Adam watches the USS Arizona sink, he realizes this isn't
make-believe…it’s real. The boys make their way back to the base, which
has erupted into total chaos. Adam will never forget December 7, 1941 and
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He left that morning with a fishing
pole and came home that night carrying a gun. Over the next few days Adam
desperately searches for answers…about his father, his friends, attitudes
toward his Japanese friends, and the escalating World War. Will he find
any answers? Find out in A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Harry
Mazer. (Patricia R. Jansen, prjusc@yahoo.com,
Graduate Student at University of South Carolina School of Library and
Information Science)
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