_Dash_ by Kirby Larson

Young Mitsi is like any other girl in America after the attack on Pearl Harbor--except she's a Japanese-American. Dash explores the plight of the Japanese-American in WWII America from the eyes of Mitsi, a girl who loses her friends, her home, and her dog, Dash, when she and her family are shuttled off to internment camps.

While this is not a completely believable and realistic story since it seems that all subplots are tied up nicely and happily, it is a good introduction for younger readers to some of the tough stuff in World War II. A 10-year-old probably isn't ready for all the ugly facts quite yet, but this book gives lots of hooks to hang knowledge on down the road.

With the idea of friendship permeating the entire book, I think this book would be right up most girls' alleys. Best of all, Mitsi is the kind of girl that most of us would like to have as a friend.

This probably doesn't deserve any major awards, but it's not a bad book at all. It will especially appeal to kids who love dogs.

_Out of the Dust_ by Karen Hesse

This is a Newbery Medal winner, and I did like it. Through poetry, Hesse chronicles a year or so in the life of Billy Jo, a 14-year-old girl living out the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma. It’s not a pretty story; it’s a tale of hardship and sadness. But in the end, there’s hope and healing.

My biggest caution is that I wouldn’t recommend this to a child much younger than the 14 of the main character. It is emotionally intense in some spots.

_A Gathering of Days_ by Joan W. Blos

This is a Newberry one. It's subtitle is "A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32." The front cover clarifies this by telling us it is "a novel by Joan W. Blos." That's good to know.

Anyway, to be honest, it's kind of hokey. I really doubt that even in 1830 a 14-year-old girl would write this formally in a journal. Then again, maybe she would, but it's a bit difficult at first to "bond" with Catharine Cabot Hall, the main character. Later, I tried to pretend I wasn't reading a "journal," and that helped me enjoy the story without dwelling on what a lame journal it was.

The issues of slavery, adapting to a step-parent, and death of a loved one are prominent in this novel. As a plus, nothing jumped out at me as majorly offensive or inappropriate. I guess I would recommend A Gathering of Days, but I do wish a Newberry Medal meant that it was completely delightful literature. 

And really, I guess it's not as bad as I make it out to be. When I was younger, I probably would have enjoyed reading it more than I do now.

_The Secret School_ by Avi

Ida wants to teach school when she grows up. She studies hard and works hard on the farm at home in Colorado. Unfortunately, circumstances beyond her control threaten her chance to be promoted in school. They say, "Where there's a will, there's a way," and Ida has a will.

This story, while no great literary masterpiece, is a good read with nothing I found objectionable. Ida and the other characters are good role models with several desirable character traits. While the main character is a 14-year-old girl, my 8-year-old boy enjoyed reading it, too.