Cape (The League of Secret Heroes) Book 1 by Kate Hannigan, illustrated by Patrick Spaziante

The most frustrating part of WWII for schoolgirl Josie O'Mally is that she can't fight like her dad has been doing ever since Pearl Harbor was attacked. On top of that, all her favorite the comic book superheroes have mysteriously disappeared from Philadelphia and no one knows why. Gone are Zenobia, her sister the Palomino, Hauntima, Hopschtch, Nove the Sunchaser and just when they are needed most. Now, however, Josie, a Irish immigrant, has a chance to do something for the war effort, thanks to an ad in the newspaper calling for puzzle experts to help fight the Nazis and it just so happens that she is a whiz at solving puzzlers and ciphers. All applicants have to do is take a qualifying exam in the Carson Building downtown.

But just as the exam is ending, Josie begins to wonder why the proctor, Hank Hissler, is separating the exams by gender - girls to the left, boys to the right. Her thoughts are interrupted when a tall woman with a dog burst into the room demanding to know what Hissler is doing and if it is approved by Room Twelve. And it looks like the very same woman and dog Josie had seen earlier at the diner where she works part-time. Needless to say, the exam abruptly ended, but Josie surprised and dismayed to see he Hissler dump the test papers of the females, and just take those of the males. Josie isn't surprised to discover that her best friend Emmet Shea has also taken the test - after all, they are partners in puzzling.

As it happens, the woman, Mrs. Constance Boudica, or Mrs. B., and her dog Astra have been observing each girl, recognizing their innate courage, intelligence, strength, desire to fight injustice in the hope they can become part of the League of Secret Heroes.

In the elevator, Josie meets two of the other girls who took the exam. Akiko Nakano is a Japanese American from San Francisco. Her family is living in an internment camp, her brother is serving in the army's all Japanese 442nd regiment, and she is living with cousins in Philadelphia. Also there is Mae Crumpler, an African American from Chicago, Illinois who is living with her grandmother, a librarian, for the summer. The three of them get to talking and discover they have two things in common - they love superhero comics and solving puzzles and ciphers. But when they come into physical contact with each other, they really set of sparks - sparks that give them temporary super powers.

Now, they can not only fight neighborhood bully Tobe Hunter and his gang who took Josie's younger brother's new bikes, but they can also search for Emmett, who has gone missing, and most importantly, they can fight the Nazis who are plotting dastardly deed in Philadelphia - if only they could think up a good name for themselves. Their first order of business - rescue the six women, including Josie's cousin Kay, involved in developing a computer that will help win the war - and one that the Nazis would love to get their hands on.

Cape is a fun book to read. First of all, some of the chapters begin using comic book panels before slipping back into prose, much that way superheroes slip in and out of their secret identities. Secondly, it is part historical fiction and part fantasy, and yes, it slips in and out of those two genres, as well. Thirdly, there plenty of action, and even the ghost of one of the missing superheroes, Hauntima, who helps the girls with words of encouragement as they fight the arch rival of the women of Room Twelve. I also liked that fact that as the girls don't start of as perfect superheroes, but learn little by little what their individual powers and abilities are and how to effectively use them. The only power they have in common is flying, but working together they become greater than the sum of their powers. There isn't a dull moment in this novel, not even when they are on the ground just being their usual selves.

The language in Cape is straightforward but has a snappiness to it that has always been so characteristic of comic books. And Hannigan has really captured the everyday details of the period (I remember my mother saying how much she also hated spam and spam hash during the war). Hannigan also touched on the prejudice of the period regarding people who are African American, Japanese American, and German American. And yet, Josie, Mae, and Akiko all have loved ones fighting in the war for the Allies. Other themes in the book are loss, betrayal, and disappointment.

And there really were six women working on a programable computer called ENIAC in Philadelphia during the war (read the Author's Note for more on that and more about Hannigan's inspiration for The League of Secret Heroes series).

All in all, this is a great novel and I can't wait to read the next two - Mask and Boots.

You can download an extensive Curriculum Guide to use in the classroom for Cape HERE

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was purchased for my personal library

And you just might want to enjoy this wonderful book trailer:

Be Sure to check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle.  Thank you, Greg.

A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata

We always like to think that this country fought heroically in WWII but the truth is that this country didn't always act very admirably, and in fact, it sometimes acted down right unconstitutionally. Which is why, on Saturday, January 12, 1946, 12-year-old Hanako Tachibana, her brother Akira, age 5, and their parents have just arrived in Japan after a long journey from Tule Lake Concentration Camp in northern California.

Having lost their home, their restaurant, their possessions, even Hanako's cat, the Tachibana family were living in internment camps since 1942, after President Roosevelt had signed Executive Order 9066. They had ended up in Tule Lake in 1943 because Mr. Tachibana had refused to answer yes to one of two loyalty questions on a government questionnaire designed to separate loyal from disloyal Japanese American men. Ultimately, Hanako's parents decided renounced their American citizenship when pressed to do so by the government and the family was repatriated to Japan at the end of the war, a country neither Hanako nor Akira had ever been to before. 

Hanako expects Japan to look as beautiful as it had in pictures she had seen, but the reality is a Japan that is as broken and poverty-stricken as she feels. Traveling to her paternal grandparents, tenant farmers living just outside of Hiroshima and struggling to survive, Hanako witnesses soldiers and civilians, dirty, disheveled, often crippled, begging for something to eat, as well as the destruction all around her, blackened trees, buildings and homes turned to rubble, all as a result of the atom bomb that had been dropped there by the Americans.

At her grandparents home, Jiichan (grandfather) and Baachan (grandmother) welcome the family with open arms and unconditional love, despite not even having enough to eat for themselves. Hanako helps out as much as she can working in the fields, but soon finds herself in school, where she is treated like an outsider. Although she can get by speaking Japanese, her reading and writing are almost non-existence, as is her skill using an abacus. Even her long braid is cause for criticism among the other girls. 

Hanako is a sensitive, observant, questioning girl, who is growing up too quickly, but is stuck in the past and afraid of the future. One of the first things Jiichan teaches her is that the way to move forward is through kintsukuroi, which is a way of repairing broken pottery using lacquer dusted with gold, so the repaired pottery is even more beautiful than it had originally been. The trauma of having lost everything has caused Hanako to question who she is, where she belongs, and what she now believes in. She may feel like a broken piece of pottery, but Hanako figures life is more complicated than a repaired bowl.

Eventually, however, Hanako's parents decide that they would like to return to America and begin working with an American civil rights lawyer, Wayne Collins, to make that happen. Mr. Collins is putting together a class action suit to help those who were repatriated to Japan after the war to regain their citizenship and return to America. But when her parents petition is refused, the family is forced to make some hard decisions. Yet, through everything that has happened to her family, Hanako finally begins to understand her grandfather's lesson on kinsukuroi, and learns that in life gold can take many forms, and that understanding is just what she needs to be able to move forward with her life.

I won't lie, A Place to Belong is a difficult book to read. Not because of the writing, which is beautifully straightforward. Or the characters, which are drawn so well you feel like you really know them. What makes it difficult is the reality of what happens, and knowing that Hanako's life is broken because of war, because of who she is and what is done to her by her own country - the United States. In addition, descriptions of children and adults begging in the streets, of people starving and disfigured in the aftermath of the atomic bomb, of black markets taking advantage of desperate people offer a disturbing, yet realistic look at post-war Japan even as Hanako tries to piece together just who she is amid the wreckage within and around her.

A Place to Belong is historical fiction based on real events. All men of Japanese ancestry really were required to complete the so-called "loyalty questionnaire" in 1943 and they, along with their families, were sent to Tule Lake Concentration Camp if they were deemed disloyal based on their answers. Tule Lake was a harsh, cruel place where inmates were treated like prisoners and many, like Hanako's family, were deported to Japan after the war.

A Place to Belong should be read by anyone interested in WWII history, however, I think readers will definitely see parallels to much of what is happening in our world today. Be sure to read Kadahata's Afterword for more information about Wayne Collins and the work he did on behalf of wronged Japanese Americans.

You can download a reading guide for A Place to Belong from the publisher, Simon & Schuster, HERE

You might want to pair A Place to Belong with No-No Boy by John Okada. No-No Boy looks at the post-war life of a Japanese American boy who answered no to both of the loyalty questions, but did not give up his citizenship.

This book is recommended for readers age 10+
This book was provided to me by the publisher, Simon & Schuster, with gratitude

View of barracks with Castle Rock in the background, Mar. 20, 1946, Tule Lake concentration camp, California.. (2015, July 17). Densho Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:05, August 17, 2019 from https://encyclopedia.densho.org/sources/en-denshopd-i37-00239-1/.

The Brave Cyclist: The True Story of a Holocaust Hero by Amalia Hoffman, illustrated by Chiara Fedele

Sometimes the most unlikely people find themselves in a situation that calls for action and bravery and they rise to the occasion. This is certainly the case of Tour de France champion Gino Bartali.

Born in Florence, Italy, Gino was a small, sickly boy who found release riding a bike, even if it was a rusty second hand bike. Before long, he could outrace his friends, even those with better bikes. In sixth grade, Gino decided to learn more about cycling, and got a part-time job with Oscar Casamanti, a man who repaired racing bikes. When he was invited to ride along with some racers through the Tuscan hills, Gino persevered even as some riders dropped out. Casamanti was so impressed, he recommended Gino take part in professional races.

At 17, he began training and racing more, and by age 21, Gino had become a powerful, winning racer. In 1938, he participated in the Tour de France and despite having an accident during the race, he still managed to win. By now, Benito Mussolini had declared himself Il Duce, the leader of Italy and a ally of Adolf Hitler. Mussolini declared Jewish citizens to be enemies of the state. Kids could no longer go to public school, or play in public parks, and their parents lost their jobs. Many Jews were arrested.

Then, in 1943, Gino received a mysterious telephone call from the archbishop of Florence, Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa. Could Gino help them? Riding his bike, Gino became a secret courier for the cardinal - making a 110-mile trip to deliver papers, photographs, and identification papers to a printer in Assisi, Italy, who then created forged identification papers that would be give to Jews in the hope that the papers would save their lives.

Gino carried on this important work until he was arrested in 1944, accused of selling guns to Mussolini's enemies. Released after 3 days, Gino went into hiding for a few months, until August 1, 1944 when the war ended in Italy and Italians were freed from Mussolini's grip.

And Gino? He went back to training for bike races, even winning the 1948 Tour de France again.

The Brave Cyclist is such an important story, and yet, one very few people knew about until now. Gino's story is a particularly important one when you realize that the punishment for helping Jews in any capacity was death, and not just for the helper, but often for their family as well. But Gino's story is also an inspiring one that proves the even one person can make a difference, that resistance can change people's fate. And the whole time Gino rode his bike great distances, often being stopped and searched by soldiers, delivering documents to be converted into forged identification papers, he had to keep his activities to himself. He could not even tell his wife so that if they were arrested, she wouldn't know anything.

In addition to an accessible written biography, Chiara Fedele's affecting illustrations are done in bright hues reflecting the happy days of cycling and racing, then switch to mostly dark hues reflecting the dark times of Mussolini's reign, complimenting and enhancing the text.

This is one of my favor illustrations. Gino has just been stopped and searched by soldiers,
now he's riding into the open field of the countryside, bringing freedom to some of Italy's Jewish citizens.

The Brave Cyclist is a picture book for older readers that is sure to generate some wonderful discussions among young readers about what they might do if they found themselves in the same circumstances as Gino.     

Author Amalia Hoffman has included an Afterword that goes into detail about Gino Bartali's life, and his heroic actions. In fact, she writes, that Gino was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Israel, and what greater honor can there be but to be so acknowledged. You will also find an important Select Bibliography in the back matter for further investigation.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was provided to me by the publisher, Capstone Editions

Sunday Funnies goes on a Blog Tour: Dear Justice League by Michael Northrop, illustrated by Gustavo Duarte

So, you all know how so many favorite Superheroes were a mainstay for American youth during WWII, right? Back then, the Justice League was formed and called the Justice Society of America (JSA), but eventually, morphed into the Justice League of America (JLA). In 2011, the JLA was reintroduced as the Justice League (JL), and that's pretty much where it stands today.*  The name may have been changed over time, but the members not so much - there's Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Aquaman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Cyborg.

All of this brings us to Dear Justice League. Here are America's great superheroes, seemingly perfect in every way, but haven't you ever wondered if their lives are really as perfect as they seem. Don't they have any faults, or screw up once in a while, maybe make a wrong decision, or perhaps even have some good advice for the rest of us?

Yes, they do and you can find it all between the covers of this delightfully silly, sometimes serious look at some of the Justice League's not so spectacular adventures as they answer emails from some of their fans.

One boy wants to know if Superman is super all the time, so Superman recounts a time he flew into a building because he was texting while flying (twf). This set off a series of hilarious events that he tries to handle all over Metropolis, ending in Superman getting a ticket for, what else, twf.

Does Wonder Woman have any advice for an 10-almost-11-year old? You bet she does, and it involves her 11th birthday and some cake.

Or how about Batman, always so brave, so fearless, has he ever been scared? asks a boy about to go to a new school and afraid he's going to be picked on the way he was at his old school.

Dear Justice League is divided into nine chapters, one for each Superheroes' story and a final chapter that ties it all together. There is a storyline running through each chapter that connects each story to the others involving a insectoid that escaped Hawkgirl's mighty mace. Insectoids are giant mantis-like alien bugs from the planet Molt-On and can replicate very quickly and easily so it's important for the Justice League to deal with them. But as insectoid's keep replicating exponentially, can they be stopped, even by Superheroes?

This is such a fun book to read, and I know young fans of the Justice League will love it. It has a very energetic, tongue-in-cheek text, but nothing really over the heads of young readers. And Duarte's colorful cartoon-like illustrations will no doubt appeal to kids. I liked that the Superheroes take the time to answer kid's email questions, and the way some of the stories circled back to the email writer to show how the advice they got helped them.

It seems that most kids go through a phase of being totally into Superheroes and this is geared perfectly for the age when that usually happens, a time when kids are out in the world because of school and activities and life is beginning to get more complicated and a little Superhero fantasy helps. I know my Kiddo went through a Superhero phase (and probably hasn't outgrown it yet, if truth be told).

Dear Justice League is a fun definite-must-read book for fans, and ideal for introducing kids to the Superhero realm, and might even hold appeal for reluctant readers.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was an EARC received from the publisher

Be sure to visit the other stops on the Dear Justice League Blog Tour:

• The Book Rat                          Wednesday, July 31st
• BookishRealm Reviews          Friday, August 2nd
• The Magic of Wor(l)ds            Saturday, August 3rd
• The Children's War                  Sunday, August 4th
• Reading in the Clouds             Monday, August 5th
• Word Spelunking                     Tuesday, August 6th 
• Light of the Bookworm            Wednesday, August 7th
• Mother Daughter Book Club    Wednesday, August 7th
• LitPic Book Reviews                Thursday, August 8th
• Good Reads With Ronna           Thursday, August 8th

*If you really want to read the complicated history of the Justice League, you can find it HERE