Across the Blue Pacific: A World War II Story

When the United States enters World War II, Molly is attending Beechwood Elementary. But her thoughts are with Ted Walker, her neighbor, who is serving aboard a cruiser in the South Atlantic.

Three years later, the war is still going on and Molly is in the fourth grade. Ted is still at sea, as a naval officer of the USS Albacore, a submarine in the Pacific Ocean. Orchard Road feels like the safest place on earth, but somewhere on the other side of the world, Ted and his crew are carrying out dangerous missions. No one knows when they will come home, and young Molly must find a way to live with fear during wartime.

Publishers Weekly

Borden (The Journey that Saved Curious George) explores how war touches the lives of those seemingly far-removed from battle, partly basing this poignant story on her uncle, Theodore Taylor Walker, a WWII submariner lost at sea. Third-grader Molly Crenshaw lives next door to Ted Walker, who in 1943 serves on a submarine in the Pacific. Molly's first-person account offers snippets of her daily life in a presumably Midwestern town; she listens to broadcasts of baseball games, attends Beechwood School and writes to Ted. The free-verse narrative travels easily between Molly's life back home and what she imagines Ted's experience might be like aboard a submarine. The author intersperses facts about the war and submarines (e.g., submarines are named for fish and can be as long as a football field), and she links the two worlds together via a large world map painted by students (There were so many islands./ Submarines like Ted's Albacore/ were helping to capture those islands back,/ rescuing pilots shot down over the sea/ or figuring out where enemy fleets were). Parker's (Ballet of the Elephants) trademark pen-and-ink and watercolor wash illustrations alternately depict scenes from the submarine and from Molly's daily life. Drab gray and pale brown hues dominate the illustrations as people grieve when Ted goes missing in action just before Christmas. This elegant book speaks to the far-reaching effects of war and the healing power of memory. Ages 6-10. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Authors : Louise W Borden, Robert Andrew Parker

Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published Year : April 2006

Edition : 1st

Subject : Children's Fiction, General

ISBN : 0618339221

ISBN13 : 9780618339228