In Don't You Know There's a War On?, by Avi, 11-year-old Howie Crispers lives in Brooklyn, New York, in 1943. It seems to him that everyone uses that phrase, "Don't you know there's a war on?" to explain away anything unpleasant or inconvenient that he has to suffer through or cope with. His father is away at the war, and his mother spends most days doing her part in the war effort by working in an airplane factory. Then Howie learns that his favorite teacher, Miss Gossim, is going to be fired, and he simply cannot accept that wartime necessity explains away this injustice. He therefore decides to try to help her by convincing the principal that she should be allowed to stay. Eventually, he gets most of the kids in his class to help.This story, narrated by 16-year-old Howie, gives kids a great feel for what WW II daily life was like. He talks about collecting scrap "for the war effort," blackouts, dads and brothers off at war, and censored mail (his family receives a "swiss cheese letter" from his dad). It's also a touching coming of age tale. I suspect there are many kids who harbor secret crushes on their teachers, and they will most likely enjoy reading about Howie's experience. This is one I listened to, and the narration is terrific, complete with different voices for each character. Kids looking for a good book for that historical fiction assignment will probably be happy they chose this one.
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