Booklist Reviews
Gr. 5-8. With her father in the U.S. Air Force, Georgie is used to moving. Now in seventh grade, she is stuck in Glendale, Indiana, and he is stationed in Vietnam. Like her father, Georgie is a good soldier; she knows how to survive in a new school, even one full of students who think what her father is doing is wrong, even when her only friend betrays her, and even when she is forced to visit a nursing home as part of the school's do-good program. However, Georgie's iron defense begins to fail as she starts to realize that the war she is so proud of her father for fighting has taken him away. The real story here is Georgie's refusal to admit her father's death, which readers discover happened long ago in a well-played reveal, and her desperate attempts to hold onto him any way she can. Beneath her whip-smart comments and spiteful behavior, Georgie is terribly fragile, and her gradual acceptance of her loss is handled with care. Woodworth's poignant novel will bring real tears to readers' eyes. ((Reviewed March 1, 2006)) Copyright 2006 Booklist Reviews.
Horn Book Guide Reviews
Impulsive seventh-grader Georgie refuses to acknowledge her father's death (revealed only in the final pages) in the Vietnam War, and her anger threatens to poison her new friendship with emergent-peacenik Lisa. Georgie slowly gains compassion and maturity through volunteer work. A range of details enrich the period atmosphere, but unlikable Georgie is rarely an engaging character. Copyright 2006 Horn Book Guide Reviews.
Kirkus Reviews
In 1970, an angry seventh-grader copes with life in a new town while her father, a career Air Force pilot, is away in Vietnam. Every night, she looks for the moon, knowing that her father has sent his love to her on it. Her anger comes out in vicious spurts, cynicism and casual cruelty shielding her from her other emotions. Woodhouse gives Georgie fairly standard plot elements to help her out, a school project binding her to Lisa, a girl she simultaneously likes and despises, while they help in a nursing home. For all that these devices are hardly new, they work, for both the reader and Georgie. Georgie's unwilling visits to the school counselor and her refusal to talk about her father give the reader clues to the welter of feelings beneath her spikiness, as does the extremity of her reaction when she discovers that Lisa's brother has fled to Canada. And when all becomes clear, her father's love gives Georgie the strength to soldier on without him. A touching exploration of an aspect of the Vietnam War not often seen in books for children. (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright Kirkus 2006 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
Library Media Connection
This is a poignant novel of friendship and the home front during the Vietnam War. Shortly after Georgie moves to a new town, her father leaves to fight in Vietnam. Georgie befriends Lisa, as they partner up in the school's good deed's program, but each girl is fighting her own demons. In Lisa's house there is obvious discomfort as no one dares mention her brother, and her sister is no longer welcome home because she advocates for peace. Things are equally as tense for Georgie at home. There are always little babies around from her mother's babysitting jobs and her mother even goes so far as to sell the TV to stop Georgie from obsessively watching the evening news. The plot moves along at a fast clip and will keep readers interested. Readers won't be surprised to find out that Georgie's father is dead, as subtle hints are dropped along the way. Unfortunately, this story, which is really about Georgie coming to terms with her father's death, comes to a rushed conclusion and the end is tied up too neatly and quickly. Even so, readers will be grateful that Georgie starts to find comfort as she faces life without her father. Recommended. Esther Lewenstein, Librarian, I.S. 278 Marine Park, Brooklyn, New York © 2006 Linworth Publishing, Inc.
School Library Journal Reviews
Gr 5-7 -Georgie Collins has just moved to a small town in Indiana with her mother, who is running a home day-care business while her father is serving in Vietnam. She starts seventh grade with a deliberate act of vandalism in the guidance counselor's office, which typifies her impulsive and defiant behavior. Her adjustment to her new school includes a friendship with patient, good-natured Lisa, and they pair up on a "Good Deeds" project by visiting an old-age home. But the war in Vietnam permeates this story, from angry confrontations in Georgie's social-studies classroom to a family secret that Lisa is afraid to reveal. Throughout, Woodworth stresses the divisiveness of a society in turmoil, an issue with resonance for today's readers. She also focuses on Georgie's anger; astute readers will realize before long that there may be more behind her father's absence than she's ready to face. A heartfelt novel, this is clearly both a character study and a pointed portrait of a time and a place. There is more emphasis on plot than writing style, and Georgie's transition in the last few chapters seems a bit abrupt. Still, larger collections will want to consider adding the book to their shelves.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
[Page 150]. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews
Georgie Collins is a fierce seventh grader trying to learn how to deal with her emotions in this historical novel that looks at the effects of the Vietnam war. While her father is serving in Vietnam, Georgie and her mother await his return in a small Indiana town. Georgie has a difficult time adjusting to a new school and making friends, and an even more difficult time dealing with the realization that her father might not be coming home. To make matters worse, Georgie is forced to participate in Good Deals for Glendale, where she is stuck visiting the elderly in a nursing home. After making some poor choices and hurting some people she cares about along the way, Georgie is able to start her own healing process and grow. Although there is much internal conflict for Georgie, there is also conflict in the story regarding feelings about the Vietnam War through some of Georgie's classmates who are "peaceniks" and against the war. This novel is an easy read for young teens and will give them some historical perspective on the Vietnam War. Young teen readers will appreciate the feistiness of Georgie's character as well as her struggle to make friends and come to peace with the various adults in her life. Woodworth is the author of the historical fiction novel When Ratboy Lived Next Door (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2005), and his latest offering is recommended for middle school readers.-Karen Jensen 3Q 2P M J Copyright 2006 Voya Reviews.