Molly Marches On

Short story collection published in 2006; author Valerie Tripp; illustrator Susan McAliley, Nick Backes, Philip Hood, or Keith Skeen

Plot

Molly, Linda, and Susan have just arrived at summer camp. It's the first time they've ever gone, and they're really enjoying it so far. Now it's time for the new camper hike, which culminates in some sort of wonderful surprise. All the "old" campers talk about the surprise wistfully. Molly and her friends can hardly wait to see what it is.

But the morning of the hike, Molly quickly finds herself in a sour mood. She recently read a book about Sacagawea, and idolizes the heroine. She wants to move swiftly and silently through the woods, relying on her wits to guide her. But the other campers, and the counselor leading them, crash loudly through the trail and following the marked signs along the way. Hardly an adventure. So when the counselor splits the group into to teams so they can race to the surprise, Molly goes off on her own. Susan follows her, intent on keeping her from danger. After an hour, the girls are lost. And thirsty. Susan's finished her water, and the leather pouch Molly kept hers in (because Sacagawea would never have used a metal canteen) leaked. Molly uses some of the tricks she read about to find water, and the girls find a stream that empties in a beautiful calm pool. The girls rest for a bit in the serene setting.

Soon they decide they need to get back to camp. Just as they're deciding the best way to get un-lost, the other hikers find them. The counselor scolds them for wandering off, but also tells no one else has ever seen the pond before, and lets them name it (naturally, after Sacagawea). While all the hikers swim in the pond, Molly and Susan ask Linda about the surprise. Linda confirms that the hikers found it, but now of course they're sworn to secrecy and she can't reveal what the surprise was!

Looking Back

Here we get a summary of Lewis and Clark's journey across the newly-acquired Louisiana Purchase in the early 1800s. The Corps of Discovery set off in May 1804. They hired a French fur trapper to help guide them and to aid in translating with the native tribes they would encounter. But more valuable to their success was his wife, Sacagawea. She was actually from the area that would later become Idaho (she'd been kidnapped years before), and knew a lot about traveling the area. The fact that the exploration party had a woman--and her baby son--with it helped alleviate any concerns that the peoples the group encounter might have had. Even better, when the group reached her native land, it just so happened that the chief of the tribe was her brother! Soon after, the Corps found themselves near the Pacific, but with winter coming on strong they were undecided whether to camp and wait or strike out for the coast. Everyone except the year-old baby voted, including Sacagawea and York, a slave. This was before either African-Americans or women had the right to vote.

Without Sacagawea's help, it's doubtful that the Lewis and Clark expedition would have reach the Pacific. They arrived safely in January 1806, and made it back to St. Louis, MO that September. The only person to die on the trip succumbed to appendicitis in 1804.

Misc

It's a good idea to make noise as you wander through the woods: scares off bears and other predators.

There are more monuments in the US dedicated to Sacagawea than any other woman in American history (at least, as of 2006).

Molly's Puppy Tale

Short story collection published in 2006; author Valerie Tripp; illustrator Susan McAliley, Nick Backes, Philip Hood, or Keith Skeen

Plot

Molly has been enjoying caring for her new puppy, Bennett. But as the dog gets older, he seems to enjoy Ricky's rough-and-tumble play more and more, and maybe even Ricky himself more. One night Molly evens awakes to find that Bennett is gone, and asleep on Ricky's bed! Determined to make Bennett like her best again, Molly forbids Ricky from playing with Bennett. She alone will take care of him.

But a growing puppy is a lot of work. Molly can't really spend her free time relaxing or hanging out with friends anymore, because Bennett needs attention. The times she lets down her guard, he ends up running away...or tracking mud in the kitchen...or destroying her room...or, worst of all, digging up the Victory Garden, where the housekeeper, Mrs. Gilford, grows vegetables to stretch the rations further.

That last bit is what finally helps Molly see that she should share her dog. Ricky happens upon the scene as Molly is despairing, and offers to help Molly put the garden back together IF he can play with Bennett again. Molly agrees, knowing that Bennett will have enough energy give affection to everyone.

Looking Back

While many dogs like Bennett provided comfort and a needed distraction from the war, others were in the midst of the fighting themselves. Just the same way that women might volunteer for duty (and some men; my grandfather volunteered for the Marines, but there was also a draft), some people offered their dogs as volunteers. Any dog between the ages of one and five and weighing at least fifty pounds could apply. The dogs were trained to support combat roles, deliver messages, and aid the wounded. Some dogs, like some people, were killed in action. The dogs that lived were gone for months or even years, but by 1947 all the surviving dogs were re-trained for civilian life and reunited with their families.

Misc

Molly's in Girl Scouts.

I can't help but imagine how insanely jealous Molly's siblings might have been that she got a pet but they didn't.

The Light in the Cellar

Written in 2007 by Sarah Masters Buckley, illustrated by Jean-Paul Tibbles

Plot

Molly and her friends are excited when their teacher offers them an opportunity to volunteer with one of several organizations to help the war effort. Susan and Linda join a Junior First Aid club, while Molly agrees to join Emily in riding their bikes to deliver things to a convalescent home. Emily's aunt is recovering there, and this will allow her to see her aunt more often.

Molly and Emily also help Mrs. McIntire get ready to prepare refreshments for a gathering at a nearby train station. It's where troops pass through on their to or from the war, and different towns take turns hosting a gathering. Molly's town always bakes dozens and dozens of cookies, but the bags of sugar are mysteriously missing. Three were used legitimately by other volunteers, but what about the rest? Some cooking oil and coffee has also disappeared. Aside from the cost issue, sugar is heavily rationed (as are other things) and it will be difficult to get enough for the cookies without finding the missing bag.Tthey'll have to ask private citizens of the town to donate cookies. Molly and Emily wonder if someone stole it to sell on the black market.

The convalescent home is also running out of sugar faster than it should be. While delivering donated magazines so that patients can have something new to read, Molly also gets a cup of tea for an elderly woman, but isn't allowed to have the sugar in it the woman asked for. The stern director is watching like a hawk and won't allow extras. But the woman, Mrs. Currier, and Molly have a nice visit anyway. Mrs. Currier happens to live in a house near Molly which is said to be haunted. Yet Mrs. Currier is able to talk Molly into going inside to get her reading glasses. Emily has no question about going with Molly as she figures she owes Molly for having her join the "boring" volunteer activity, which is sweet of her.

They find the glasses just where Mrs. Currier described, but then a truck pulls into the driveway. Two men get out and the girls can hear them talking in hushed tones about something being almost done. They're suspicious, and hide until the coast is clear. Molly's brother Ricky thinks they're being ridiculous; the men were probably just doing some repairs. But when Molly talks to Mrs. Currier, she learns that no one else lives in the house (Mr. Currier is deceased), and that no repairs are scheduled.

The next day, when Molly has to return to Mrs. Currier's (she forgot to lock the door and re-hide the spare key), she, Linda, and Susan take a moment to peer into a window they'd seen a light coming from the week before. It's full of all sorts of rationed goods, too much to have been bought with ration stamps. Molly briefly suspects a foreign woman who works at the convalescent home, but upon hearing that she and her young daughter escaped Nazi concentration camps in Poland--and her husband didn't--she dismisses the thought. Molly comes up with a plan to catch the real crooks, and she, Ricky, Ricky's friend David, Jill, Susan, Linda, and Emily stake out the place Saturday night, when the men indicated whatever they were doing would be finished. Sure enough, they see the man who owns a laundry delivery service (which also serves the convalescent home and other places) load up his truck and drive off with his brother. Tipped off by Ricky and David, the police stop the truck and on the urging of the children, search the back and arrest the man.

As the plot lines wrap up, the troops get their cookies (neighbors brought over more than enough), the thieves are brought up on charges, Mrs. Currier hires the refugee woman to be a caretaker at her house just before she and her daughter would have become homeless, and Emily's aunt is declared recovered enough to move back home. Molly and Emily are torn by the last piece of news. Of course it's good that Emily's aunt is well, but it means that she won't live with Molly's family anymore, and she'll be busy helping her aunt, who is still a bit weak. Both girls have started thinking of each other as family. Molly has a plan in mind, though: they will continue their twice-weekly volunteering, and Molly will go with Emily to her aunt's house those days to help fix dinner.


Looking Back

The United States entered World War II after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. By May 1942, the US was feeling the impact of not being able to import or produce as many goods, due to the war. Different items began to be rationed, starting with sugar. Eventually, there were limits on rubber (i.e., in car tires or elastic), gasoline, butter, meat, toothpaste, clothing, and more. Everyone, even children, received ration stamps that allowed them to purchase various goods. Once the stamps were gone, they were gone until the next time they were issued. Most people were eager to make do so that the troops abroad could have what they needed, and learned to make things last longer or use things differently. But others stole goods or forged ration cards, creating a black market. But again, most people wanted to help. Even children could volunteer to put together first aid kits for hospitals or overseas, or be plane spotters watching for enemy planes, or collect scrap metal.


Misc

This book is dedicated to Jessica.

A nurse mentions in passing that her baby is feeling better. "It was only a cold, thank heavens." In the 1940s, I wouldn't be surprised if she was worried her baby had something like whooping cough, which can kill an infant. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Vaccines and antibiotics are probably the best things invented in modern medicine. Go look up your immunization records or call your healthcare provider and see if you need a TDaP booster (Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis, AKA whooping cough). Pertussis is at epidemic levels in several US states, including mine, and in other countries as well.

Back in Meet Molly, Molly tells her friends that lying doesn't count if you cross your fingers. In this book, written twenty-one years later, she crosses her fingers behind her back when lying to her mother.

Brave Emily

Written in 2006 by Valerie Tripp, illustrated by Nick Backes, Renee Graef, Susan McAliley, and Keith Skeen

Plot

This book takes place in the middle of Happy Birthday, Molly, but from Emily's perspective. We get to see a bit more of how vastly different life was for Emily, so much closer to the Axis powers and under constant threat of being killed by bombs. Emily struggles some with the culture shock, which is compounded by seeing how relatively carefree the Americans are. While she knows that Molly and family and friends worry about relatives fighting overseas and endure their own hardships, it's simply not the same as having bombs being dropped from right overhead. As Emily learns more American customs, she starts to relax and fit in more, although she's still searching for a way to follow her grandfather's instruction: to be brave for England.

One day in school, all the students are given flutophones, sort like the recorders that elementary school kids will often play today, a very simple wind instrument. Emily seems to have a natural talent for it...at least when playing a tune she already knows, "Hot Cross Buns." Molly and her friends think Emily is a musical prodigy, but when Emily practices "America the Beautiful" privately, she knows that it was just dumb luck. She practices whenever she can, but has real difficulty with the tune. She also feels guilty that she only seems to eke out fifteen minutes a day for practice, when the other students are practicing more. So before turning in her practice sheet, Emily changes the ones to fours, making it look like she practiced for 45 minutes a day instead of 15. But the students were just exaggerating and using hyperbole when they said they practiced for hours; they meant it felt like hours. So the teacher announces her dedication in front of the class because she appears to have practiced the most! Furthermore, because of that, Emily is going to play the solo at the class recital in two days!

That night, Emily confesses to Molly what she did. Molly comes up with a plan: first, Emily tells the truth to the teacher, who assigns her to make up the extra practice time she claimed, and says she still must play the solo the next day. But Molly, Susan, and Linda ask to stand behind her during the solo to help. Emily spends all the time she can manage practicing before the recital the next day. She gets the song down pretty well, but not perfectly. When it's time for her solo, Molly, Susan, and Linda tap-dance behind her with a triangle, a tambourine, and cymbals, playing louder over the parts Emily struggles with. The song goes wonderfully, and audience is none the wiser to the mistakes.

Then Emily enacts the final bit of the plan, the part that lets her be brave for England: she tells the crowd that she is from England, where food is in short supply, and asks for canned food donations to be brought to the Red Cross, which will ship the food to her home. Leaving the concert, she overhears someone commenting on how brave Emily must be.


Looking Back

Emily was far from the only child to have to leave home during World War II. Many children were sent away from London, where Nazi bombing and strict rationing made life very dangerous. Some went to the English countryside (like the Penvensie children in the Narnia books). Some were sent to other countries, to the United States, Canada, and even Australia. At first it was common for convoys of ships to travel across the ocean, but after one was sunk and 77 children died, only individual families sent their children overseas. Some children were away for as long as four years, and had to re-meet their parents all over again when the war ended. But at least they were safe.


Misc

This book is dedicated to "Helen Natalie Frances Heuer, with love."

Emily uses the trick my nanny charge taught me for remembering that 8 x 7 = 56 (56 = 7 x 8, five-six-seven-eight).

Eight times seven was a tricky question for Molly in Molly Learns a Lesson, too.

So, Emily's grandparents are hosting some evacuated children in the English countryside...but not Emily? I guess her parents were worried the Nazis might start bombing the rest of England.

Emily's father is also a doctor.

Emily's letters give Molly's address as 467 Oak Street, Jefferson, Illinois.

Probably a coincidence, but there's a student with the last name of Halsey in Molly and Emily's class. Admiral Halsey was, to put it lightly, important in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

Two of Emily's letters home are very, very short; just a couple paragraphs. If I were sending a letter to my parents that wouldn't arrive for weeks, I'd write a bit more.One of the letters is dated Sunday, April 16, 1944, which is accurate, and also works with Molly's birthday being Saturday, April 22 in Happy Birthday, Molly.

It's kinda rotten that Mrs. Gilford won't allow Molly and Emily to practice their flutophones in the house. Yeah, it's annoying, but it's also homework.

Molly, Linda, and Susan take a tap-dancing class.

Happy Birthday, Molly!

Written in 1987 by Valerie Tripp, illustrated by Nick Backes and Keith Skeen

Plot

Molly's birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and her mother has more exciting news to add: an English girl is going to stay with them! Emily Bennett was supposed to escape the blitzkrieg bombing by coming to live with her aunt. But her aunt is very ill and while she's expected to recover, she's not well enough to care for Emily. So Emily will stay with the McIntires until her aunt is better.

Molly, Linda, and Susan imagine that maybe Emily will be like a princess, and can't wait to play with a new friend. But Emily is very shy (and, Molly notices, very thin, possibly malnourished) and doesn't seem to want to let anyone get to know her. The most she says is when she politely refuses to play "bomb shelter" with the other girls. Thankfully Molly's mother points out that bomb shelters aren't a fun, exciting thing in England so that the girls won't make that mistake again. They try to include Emily in their play at home and at school (Emily is their age and in their class), but she's so shy and reserved that most people end up ignoring her.

It's not until a blackout drill that Emily opens up. The McIntires view it as more of an interesting diversion and maybe a bit of a hassle, but for Emily it's like being back in the middle of the blitzkrieg. She tells Molly how awful it is to know that at any moment, a plane could fly over with a bomb to drop, leaving death and destruction in its wake. She feels guilty and cowardly for leaving London while her parents are still there. Molly reassures her that she is brave, and that even the English princesses have left England to stay safe. As the drill ends, the girls bond over their shared interest in British royalty (they're even Molly and Emily, and the princesses are Margaret and Elizabeth). They start to become friends, and plan a princess tea themed party for Molly's birthday. Since Emily has had to miss out on birthdays with the war right in her front yard, Molly offers to share her birthday with Molly.

They hit some snags with the planning. The differences in their upbringing show more and more as they each want vastly different things that they value for the party. Their national pride also causes a riff. Both girls are rightly very proud of what their countries are doing to stop the Nazis, but instead of appreciating what both allies bring, they argue over which is doing a better job. The night before the party they go to bed angry, Molly silently vowing to do her own thing and not invite Emily.

In the morning, both girls have calmed down. They're just about to apologize when Molly's mother and siblings burst in with a puppy for each girl! The girls have a moment alone with their new pets, and Emily reveals that she had a dog that was killed in a bombing. Molly knew that the war was more real to Emily, but not how real until that revelation. Emily also remembers that while she misses her parents terribly after being away from them for a few weeks, Molly's dad has been gone for two years. The girls see that they each have difficult things in their life to deal with, and there's no point in arguing who has it harder. Like the Allied soldiers, they should work together to make life better. Molly names her dog Bennett, after Emily, and Emily names her dog Yank in honor of the American soldiers. With their friendship that much stronger, they get ready for their birthday party.


Looking Back

Raising a child in the 1940s was easier in some ways than it had been in the past. While the war and rationing was hard, new technology (like my favorite household appliance, the washing machine) and new medical science (yay vaccines!) were improving the length and quality of life. Not every advancement was good, like the notion that formula was more scientifically balanced and therefore better than breast milk. Formula is a good alternative if breast milk is unavailable, but breast milk is the ideal infant food. The 1940s and 1950s also saw the rise of the idea of teenagers as distinct from either children or adults. Molly would have enjoyed very exciting teenage years, especially relative to the war years.


Misc

This book is dedicated to Emily Stuart Matthewson.

The book places the day of the party, April 22, as a Saturday. It was in 1944, so Molly's repeating a year. Christmas in the last book was 1944 as well. It's too bad she wasn't moved into 1945: April 22, 1945 was the day Hitler admitted defeat.

I hope Molly's mom asked Emily's aunt if it was okay for Emily to get a dog. And I hope she checked that Emily would be able to bring it back to England.

The new teenage culture of the 1950s was a big reason the producers of Back to the Future set the movie in 1955.

Molly's Surprise

Written in 1986 by Valerie Tripp, illustrated by Nick Backes, Keith Skeen, and Renee Graef

Plot

As Christmas draws nearer, Molly is concerned. Her dad hasn't been able to send any presents, and his presents have always been a big part of their Christmas tradition. Plus, what if he never sent presents because he...can't send presents? She also can't expect any big or non-practical presents, what with the war and all. Molly's able to sadly give up on her dream of a doll--mostly--but worries that Brad, being only five, is going to be very disappointed Christmas morning.

There are some more snags, too. Molly's sister wants to have things be different from the previous years, because seeing everything else the same when their dad isn't around makes her miss him more (she relents when she sees that she can still enjoy the memories and look forward to his return). Molly's older brother, on the other hand, gets ready to do stuff like put up the Christmas lights, which was normally a job for their dad. While Molly wants the lights up like they always are, she feels uncomfortable that it's not her dad putting them up. Molly's grandparents were going to bring a Christmas tree, but they get a flat and can't. It happens while Molly's mom and younger brother are out, so Molly and her older siblings pool their money (including the fifty pennies Molly was going to give Brad for Christmas) to buy a small tree from a nearby lot.

Once the tree is up, things don't seem quite so bad. Plus, the next morning, it snows. Almost hidden by the snow is a package. Molly's dad was able to send presents after all! Molly and Jill find it, and recognize their dad's handwriting instructing them to keep it a secret. They hide the box quickly, not even telling their mom. Fortunately, they only have to keep the secret two days. They sneak the box under the tree just after midnight, and it's waiting for the family Christmas morning. It's filled with the fun presents they wanted: a real silk paratrooper scarf for Ricky, a canteen and helmet for Brad, a beautiful hat for Jill, a doll of a Red Cross nurse for Molly, and some nice leather gloves for their mom. There's a note inside the gloves, and Molly's mom suddenly turns on the radio...just in time to hear their dad wishing them a merry Christmas from across the ocean.


Looking Back

Like Molly's family, people all over the United States had to be frugal and practical during Christmas 1944. Most factories were being used to make supplies for the war effort, rather than toys. The Looking Back section indicates this as a cause for fewer Christmas ornaments being made. That's true in part, but another big factor is that most Christmas ornaments in the first half of the twentieth century had been made in Germany. Three guesses why those were unpopular, and the first two don't count.


Misc

This book is dedicated to Michael.

Molly's family doesn't get their Christmas tree until December 22! We usually get ours the first weekend of December. And it's still up...I should probably take the ornaments off later today...

They don't put up ANY decorations until December 22. I guess it makes sense to save energy and not do lights, but nothing?

The illustrations of a hat Jill is knitting are off a bit; she's clearly knitting in the round but has regular needles. They should be double-pointed needles or cable needles. But both drawings are far better drawn than I could ever hope to do, so there's that.

I think my theory about dolls is getting stronger. Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly all really want their doll (Kirsten's in storage) or a new one for Christmas. And there were dolls of the girls. I think it's a marketing ploy.

Molly Learns a Lesson

Written in 1986 by Valerie Tripp, illustrated by Nick Backes, Keith Skeen, and Renee Graef

Plot

Molly's school is having a contest to see which group of students can do the most to support the war effort. The boys in Molly's class decide to collect foil to use for scrap metal, and one of Molly's classmates, Alison, suggests the girls knit "hundreds and hundreds" of socks for the troops. Molly is dismayed by the idea: she's convinced there's no way that such a project is feasible or could win the contest. But the rest of the girls go along with Alison's idea and plan to have a sock-knitting party that weekend. Molly enlists Susan and Linda to help collect bottle tops instead (for scrap metal), so that the girls will have at least something to bring to the contest. Susan wonders if Molly only dislikes the idea because it's Alison's. Alison is nice, but privileged and very smart. It seems things come too easily to her, and it's hard for Molly to not feel resentful sometimes. She's still able to convince Susan and Linda to go along with her idea.

The next day, they go out collecting bottle tops, but have little success. While in Alison's neighborhood, cold and wet from the rain, they see their classmates enjoying refreshments and hot chocolate. Just as they're about to go to more houses to ask for bottle tops, Alison's mother sees them, and they pretend they were just about to join the knitting party. Molly soon realizes that she was right: the girls don't know how to knit socks well enough to have made any yet. But when one girl throws down her work in frustration, Molly comes up with an idea: they can take the squares that all the girls have knitted and sew them into a blanket! Working together, the ten girls quickly make a large, beautiful, warm blanket that can keep a wounded soldier warm while he recovers in a hospital. Molly, Linda, and Susan laughingly tell the other girls how they tried to collect a hundred bottle tops but only got sixteen. However, the others girls like that idea too, and together come up with the remaining eighty-four.

The third-grade girls win the contest with the blanket and scrap metal, and even get a write-up in the town's paper. Molly is mentioned by name, as the blanket will be sent to the hospital where her father works.


Looking Back

In 1944, it was common for schools to have many volunteer opportunities to help the war effort. They ranged from scrap metal collection to being penpals with displaced children in England to rolling bandages to making clothes and blankets for the troops. Even students felt it was their patriotic duty to do whatever they could think of to help.


Misc

This book is dedicated to "all my teachers."

The first chapter is titled "Eight Times Seven," which is a multiplication problem that trips up Molly during a class competition. I used to have trouble remembering whether 8 x 7 was 54 or 56, until two years ago when my nanny charge pointed out that 56 = 7 x 8: five, six, seven, eight.

Alison's mom is pretty awesome in her scene. She finds the Molly, Susan, and Linda spying on the sock knitting party, and is all "Oh, Alison was worried you weren't going to come, but I told her you would never be so rude! And look, here you are, ready to join us! I'll go tell her you're here."

Once you know how to knit, basic socks aren't terribly complicated, although turning the heel can be a bit tricky the first few times. But I absolutely DETEST knitting them. I've made one pair (a gift for one of my midwives when I was pregnant with my older daughter), but aside from some tiny ones as Christmas decorations, I intend to never knit a sock ever again.

Hmm, maybe the reason Molly thinks sock knitting is so complicated is that she describes knitting them flat then seaming them. It would be tricky to get a seam straight. That's why sock knitting is best done "in the round," using either cable needles or three to five double-pointed needles to make the socks in tube shapes right from the start.

Molly's books have some really goofy illustrations in them. There's one of an anthropomorphic glass of tomato juice threatening to spill.

Meet Molly

Written in 1986 by Valerie Tripp, illustrated by Nick Backes, Keith Skeen, and Renee Graef

Plot

Here we are introduced to Molly McIntire, the third of four children living with their mother in Illinois. Their father has been gone in England seven months, using his skills as a doctor to treat soldiers wounded in World War II's European theater. Missing her father makes Molly resent the strict housekeeper, Mrs. Gilford, even more. She wants things back the way they used to be, when they didn't have to ration things like sugar or other things, her fourteen-year-old sister Jill wasn't so concerned with growing up, her twelve-year-old and five-year-old brothers Ricky and Brad weren't so bothersome, her mom didn't have to gone at work all day, and her dad was safe at home.

Still, she's able to distract herself with the day-to-day concerns of a typical nine-year-old, like what she and her best friends Susan and Linda will be for Halloween. Molly's mother suggests hula dancers, and the girls have a great time showing off their costumes. But when they come back to Molly's house for a sleepover, and before Molly's mother can take a picture to send their father, Ricky blasts them with a hose, ruining their treats and their newspaper and crepe paper costume. Mrs. McIntire comes up with a pretty good punishment, I think: Ricky has to give the girls the treats he got (he can keep one piece) and clean up the mess he made. But the girls think it's not punishment enough, and the next morning they embarrass Ricky in front of Jill's friend, Dolores. Ricky has a crush on Dolores, and Molly and her friends get her to come outside where Ricky is and dump out the contents of his underwear drawer from a second-story window.

Mrs. McIntire comes home just in time to see the revenge. She chastises all four of them: this sort of one-up-mans-ship and petty revenge is what starts wars in the first place. She sets the girls to work washing Ricky's clothes, and makes sure Ricky finishes cleaning up the costume bits. While working, Ricky and Molly apologize sincerely to each other, and remember the importance of sticking together as a family.


Looking Back

This time, the section gives a brief overview of World War II and how it affected life in the United States. There was a lot of rationing: factories made planes and tanks instead of planes or tents instead of clothes, and people were encouraged to grow their own food in backyard "victory gardens." With many men away at war (and some women, especially as nurses), women began working outside the home more. People were generally proud to "do their part" to help the war effort.


Misc

This book is dedicated to the author's family.

I've been that kid who was told to stay at the table until I'd eaten my food. I don't remember it going well, and I'm still picky. I do think it's important for kids (and adults) to try new foods, maybe even more than once, and to be polite, but it's unreasonable to expect them to like absolutely everything. Even my older brother who likes everything else doesn't like the taste of mushrooms.

Halloween 1944 was a Tuesday, but the next day is clearly pointed out to be Saturday. Some areas hold trick-or-treating on the nearest weekend, so it could make sense. Maybe.

June 6, 1944 was also a Tuesday. D-Day. Molly's dad would have been in England then. I wonder if he treated a lot of wounded, or if too many of them died first. (I remember blood banks turning people away after the September 11 attacks and asking them to come back in a few weeks, because there just weren't that many survivors.)

Speaking of blood donations, the Looking Back section reveals that Molly's mom works for the American Red Cross blood bank. There's a picture of some African-American giving blood. It think the section is remiss in not mentioning Dr. Charles Drew, an African-American doctor who was instrumental in the creation of the AMC blood bank and in striking down the misguided notion that people could only receive blood transfusion from donors of the same race. The only concerns are compatible blood type--e.g.; I'm O+ and so can give to any Rh+ type--and blood-borne illness. (Contrary to the urban legend, Dr. Drew did not die because his race preventing his receiving medical treatment, by the way.)