Description
2015 Rocky Mountain Book Award — Shortlisted
A boy is thrown into the middle of history’s biggest war.
Fatherless and penniless, fifteen-year-old Richard Fuller wants a bike, so Mr. Black, the baker hires him to help with deliveries. Mr. Black entertains him with army stories and teaches him Morse code. He invites Richard to attend the opening ceremonies of the local 1939 military camp. Infatuated with army life, Richard takes part in Army training camp under an assumed name. When war looms, he makes the most impulsive decision in his life and enlists.
He travels to England, witnesses the terror of the Battle of Britain, the horrible death of a German pilot, is caught in the London Blitzkrieg, and is wounded himself. When his true age is discovered, Richard faces a possible court-martial.
Will Richard’s desire for adventure lead to disaster so early in his life?
Contributor Notes
Jennifer Maruno is a long-time educator. Her debut novel, When the Cherry Blossoms Fell, was shortlisted for the Hackmatack Award and the Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Readers Choice Award. She is also the author of Warbird, Cherry Blossom Winter, and Kid Soldier. She lives in Burlington, Ontario.
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age:
- 12 to 15
- Grade:
- 7 to 10
- Reading age:
- 12 to 15
Awards
- Short-listed, Rocky Mountain Book Award
- Commended, Top Grade: CanLit for the Classroom selection
Editorial Reviews
Maruno’s attention to detail and loyalty to source material adds significant verisimilitude to the historical setting.
— Publishers Weekly
Maruno creates a well-realized world for Richard and her readers in every setting she places him, be it the humid house where his mother does her laundry work or the tense scouting and air-raid scenes in England.
— School Library Journal (US)
[Jennifer Maruno] provides many interesting details of the daily lives of both civilians and military, in Canada and England. This replaces the more dramatic battle scenes expected in a WWII novel, and Maruno’s strength is the research.
— Canadian Materials magazine
Maruno excels at presenting scenes, rather than telling readers what to think.
— Canadian Materials Magazine
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Annotations
Kids Soldier
You want to run your hands over the cover, it's covered with a beige knit, a metaphor for the texture the writer, Jennifer Maruno, provides to a 15 year-old boy's experience of WWII. Richard Fuller is hardworking, ambitious and plucky. His age doesn't stop him from enrolling in a signalling camp, he already knows some Morse Code. When war breaks out, his signalling talents make it easy to enlist and earn everyone's respect and support back home in Niagara Falls, everyone that is, except for his own mother's. The adventure, the camaraderie, the drills and marching, night watch and mail from back home (without the promised hand knitted socks)--all the rich detail of the war is viewed through this innovative young boy's eyes. Richard never communicates to his mother. The humour, the sadness and loss finally forces him to see and understand her point of view. An especially good read for boys 10 to 12 years old.
