3.5, I enjoyed this middle grade novel set near San Diego during World War II. I think kids who like historical fiction will enjoy this one. Millie is a great character and made me laugh out loud several times.

Millie is a tween in San Diego right as WWII is breaking out. She's just lost her grandmother, an unwelcome perfumy aunt is moving in, and things are changing rapidly all around her. She does her part collecting items for the war effort and diligently records things into a notebook she calls her Book of Dead Things until she realizes that she might have misinterpreted the gift of the notebook. Cushman adds realistic details like the racism encountered by the Asian community, but doesn't delve in very far. Millie is a likable protagonist and her coming of age seems realistic for the time. It would have been nice to have more heft to the story, but readers will enjoy getting to know Millie. Review from e-galley.

Award winning author, Karen Cushman, brings us a middle grade historical fiction winner set in Mission Beach near San Diego. The book covers the period of time before, during, and after the Japanese first bomb Pearl Harbor. Twelve year old Millie is the heroine of this coming-of-age novel that brings to life the everyday struggles of Americans on the home front during WW2 - job loss, economic instability, food scarcity, discrimination against Japanese Americans, worry about the coming war, and the fear that Japan might attack the west coast. In the midst of all this, our Millie is dealing with pre-teen angst common to all children her age, in addition to the sudden death of her beloved grandmother, caring for her younger siblings, neighborhood meanies, and trying to find her own place in supporting the war effort from home. I thoroughly enjoyed the cast of eccentric characters and description of Mission Beach during this time period. Millie’s thoughts and emotions were honest, heartfelt, and sometimes messy as she navigated this growing-up time in her life. Full of truth and grit and hope and love, War and Millie McGonigle is sure to be another beloved addition to your middle grade library.
Thanks to the publisher, Knopf Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.

A slice of life novel about 1940s San Diego and the start of the US involvement in WWII. More of a character study as Millie comes to terms with her grandmother's death and the changes that the war is bringing to her community. For grades 4 & up.

The cover of this book as well as its summary totally drew me in. I was excited to read this one, but found that once I started, I had trouble keeping up the momentum. It never drew me in and I ended up "DNF-ing" it after struggling through it for a while. I'm sure lots of kids will love this book, but it wasn't the right fit for me.

First, I'd like to thank Net Galley for the EArc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Millie, Millie, Millie... it's hard to be a preteen. And it's hard to be a preteen when money is short, you don't live in a great area, and you have to help take care of your little siblings. And all you want to do is figure out a way to help support the war effort.

The book is great for upper elementary age kids. We learn about the war, but never too graphic. We learn about life as a poor family and we see their struggles but we also see the love. And poor Millie tries to do some growing up when an older girl from a big city shows up.

We have some laughs, we have some tears, but most of all we want to hang out in San Diego with Millie and her crowd, supporting the war efforts.

I see the appeal in the book, but I am simply not swayed by it. I have found that I am quite particular about my historical fiction and this is just not my style. At all. While I think some kids will gravitate towards this book as it is a very simple read and has good appeal with it's wartime setting (these are typically easy sells at my library), I just do not see this having mass appeal.

Also, I found the cover to be working against the themes in the book specifically Millie's obsession with dead things. And some of these scenes could be a lot for some kids. The one really gruesome scene (readers will know what I am referring to), could be almost scarring for more sensitive readers (or even me). Because ewww.

I was drawn to this middle-grade readers’ title by the author and by the intriguing cover. It matches the book’s content. We see a girl on the beach which should evoke pleasant feelings and yet…there appear to be ominous planes and ships right off shore. This is the introduction to the story of Millie, a girl who lives in California during WWII and, more specifically, around the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

This was a difficult time in American history and it is difficult for our protagonist. She is living her life with the usual issues of childhood including school, friendships, sibling rivalry and a grandmother’s death, but also with rations, Hitler in Europe and a sense that the U.S. is not safe. How will she cope? Who will help her?

Readers who pick up this book will find out. I hope that they will also discuss the book’s content with a trusted adult as the story is not always easy. It is, however, very well done by the author of Catherine, Known as Birdy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this middle grade historical fiction novel! 12 year old Millie and her family live in San Diego and this book tells about their life around the time of the Pearl Harbor bombing. Millie is dealing with the death of her grandmother and worry over the war. I think many young people today can relate due to the global pandemic. Ultimately, this book gives hope in the midst of dark times.

I read this book in consideration for my middle grade readers, and I felt that the book was very heavy and perhaps too dark for younger elementary students. I felt that it was even a bit too dark for my fourth grader in particular. With that said, it’s a powerful story of a very dark and difficult time for our nation, and I loved the themes of resilience and courage in the midst of these difficult times. Millie is a strong female protagonist, and I loved that she was a reader and found her solace in rich, wonderful books like The Hobbit. Karen Cushman’s writing is strong and smart, and although I think some of the ideas and themes are a bit mature for a younger audience, I would nonetheless highly recommend this book to the parent of a child struggling with dark and heavy situations.

War and Millie McGonigle is one of very few middle grade books set in the United States during World War II. The daily format of the book helps readers who lack some of the background knowledge of this time, making it a great book to kick start reading more about this time period.

This World War II book is set in sunny California, where Millie McGonigle lives, and her life should be pretty perfect, except for the war that's going on, leaving her to deal with rationing food and little money at a young age. What's more, her sister is sick and getting all of the attention at home. Can Millie survive life during the war or will everything come crashing down around her?

Millie is having a rough time. She misses her Gram, who died recently and now she's stuck with her family and little money and Aunt Edna comes to live with them and stinks up everything with her perfume. Millie is also nervous about war, which is happening on the other side of the globe, but maybe it will come to Mission Beach? When we meet Millie, she is writing things down in her book of dead things that Gram told her to keep to remember people and things who have gone. Only it's making her morbid and her sister is scared of her and Millie is scared of war and it isn't helping.

But somehow, Millie finds a friend in another girl down the street who is tortured by the same kid she is and learns a little more about the world through her shenanigans. I really love how this book portrays Millie's relationship with her sick sister, who she thinks is a pill but deep down, she really loves her.

This book goes through the bombing of Pearl Harbor and slightly beyond so you can see how the war effort changes everything. It is scary, but it gives Millie's parents both jobs and more money for them to eat, even if there is rationing. Millie is in the end a character you grow to love and root for.

A good read about the home front during WW2. Specifically about living on the West Coast and how the fear of German attacks cast a constant shadow.
The three star rating is for the graphic and often detailed descriptions of the deceased creatures Molly finds for her “Book of Dead Things”. This was a bit over-the-top for my taste.
*I received a free digital copy of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.*

Gram said nothing living dies if it’s remembered. Millie’s good at remembering. After Japan bombs Pearl Harbor and war is declared, Mama works nights building bombers; Pop works days as a Navy clerk. As war reshapes their lives, some seek scapegoats to blame, but Millie’s Irish American family, with their own experiences of prejudice, rejects the anti-Japanese and anti-immigrant bias taking ugly root around them. Rich, authentic detail brings setting, community, and era to resonant life, as when a neighborhood child contracts polio and parents anxiously watch their own for symptoms. With the future uncertain, Millie discovers precious, hidden beauty lies in once-monotonous daily life.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's Publisher for the opportunity read this title ahead of it's April 6, 2021 publication date.

12 year old Millie has just lost her Gram, the family is trying to recover from losing their store during the Great Depression, her younger sister is sickly, and the war in Europe is edging ever closer to her San Diego, CA home. At lot for a 12 yr. old to navigate. As she struggles to find her place without her trusted Gram, Millie discovers that even in the toughest of times, beauty can be found, if you choose to see it.

The setting and eclectic cast of characters kept the story moving along, although to this adult reader several of characters sounded slightly too mature for their ages, especially Millie and Pete (younger brother). However, for the intended audience, I think readers will enjoy this historical fiction novel.

An engrossing hf middle grade coming-of-age story set in WWII San Diego. Readers can relate to 12-year-old Millie, living in an uncertain time in history. She’s also coping with the loss of her beloved grandmother, family struggles, a needy sick sister, and the challenges of being a pre-teen. A compelling fresh twist on recent WWII fiction.

4 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 06 Apr 2021
#WarandMillieMcGonigle #NetGalley

Thanks to the author, Random House Children's, and to NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

E ARC provided by Netgalley

Millie lives with her parents, her sister Lily, and her brother Pete in San Diego in the 1940s. Her grandmother Tillie has passed away, and her father is finding it difficult to find work, so food and comforts are rare. The family takes in a cousin, Edna, who has some cognitive problems that lead to many bad choices, so supervision is helpful. Lily, who has lung problems, gets to keep her own bed, and Lily isn't happy about the extra person in the house. Millie has a journal her grandmother gave her, and has chosen to use it to record and draw the dead things that she finds on the beach. (There are a lot of these.) She has a confrontational relationahip with neighbor Dicky (Icky) Fribble, but is glad when his cousin and her mother move in. Rosie is older, and interested in boys and makeup, but the two get along quite well. After Pearl Harbor is bombed, Millie's father gets a job, but there is rationing, worries about the the war and spies, and drives for metal and rubber to use for the war effort. Since Millie is in California, she even gets a glimpse of the mistreatment of Japanese Americans when Mrs. Fribble tries to talk her mother in to going to a Japanese neighborhood to buy the displaced families' possession for cheap. As the US enters deeper in to war, Millie starts to make peace with her life after her grandmother.
Strengths: California would have been a very interesting part of the world to be in at this time period, and there are great details about living near a beach. Millie has a lot on her plate, and her family situation is a bit precarious. The treatment of chronically ill children was much different in the 1940s. Food rationing, collecting scrap, and watching for planes were all things that children were involved in to further the war effort. My grandmother was of the mind that rationing wasn't necessary, but was implemented to make everyone feel like they had a part in sacrificing for the war effort, and she might not be far off. My mother and father would have been very close to Millie's age, and the story sounds very familiar! I did enjoy the children's literature of the time that Millie reads, and the fact that she asks the librarian for books about death and horrible things happening to people in order to make her own life seem better.
Weaknesses: There was not as much of a plot as I would like, and I think Millie deals with the death of her grandmother in a particularly modern way.
What I really think: I would love to see reissues of some World War II homefront books by authors who actually lived through this time period-- Lowry's Autumn Street, Peck's Wings of Heroes and Blume's Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself come to mind, and I'm surprised there is not an Ellen Conford title.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an early copy in return for an honest review.

One of my favorite genres is historical fiction, and I particularly enjoy World War 2 historical fiction. I thought this was a unique take on World War 2 as it is set in San Diego, California. I thought Cushman did a good job showing just how far reaching the impacts of the war were in the 1940's.

Milie lives in Mission Beach and since her grandmother recently passed away and the US is at war, Millie has been struggling to understand everything going on. Through both serious and funny moments, the reader gets a real sense of how much a war (or pandemic for our current children) impacts children.

Will definitely recommend to middle grade readers who are fans of historical fiction, but may offer a warning to young middle grade readers due to the themes of the book.

War and Millie McGonigle introduces the reader to Millie, living in San Diego in the days leading up to and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After the death of her beloved Gram, Millie deals with her loss by adding to her Book of the Dead. Her anxiety around change, the coming war, and her family is very current with today's world events. I can easily see where this book and this character will speak to and comfort the anxieties that kids face today. Can't recommend this title highly enough. Another great read from Karen Cushman.