Moon Tears

In a historical novel set over four years and loosely inspired by real-life events, Frische introduces a group of children who have to work together if they want their town to survive WWII. Fourteen-year-old Lucinda “Lou” Davis lives in the (fictional) small town of Claret Lake in northern California. When a census error causes every man in town to be drafted, the women of Claret Lake go to work in nearby shipyards, and Lou and the other kids are left behind to “run the town.” The children grow up quickly as they face forest fires, hunt and scavenge for food, and watch the skies for enemy aircraft. Frische ably describes the hardships the children contend with, and tension runs high when Lou has to negotiate medical emergencies. With frequent jumps in time, the novel has a choppy, episodic quality, and readers may find it hard to know what parts of the story have been fictionalized versus drawn from actual history. Still, they will get a sense of the challenges that citizens of all ages faced during WWII. Ages 12–up. (BookLife)