Across the Blue Pacific : A World War II Story - Hardcover

Louise W. Borden

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0618339221 ISBN 13: 9780618339228

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006

Synopsis

When the United States enters World War II, Molly is attending Beechwood Elementary. But her thoughts are with Ted Walker, her neighbor, who is serving aboard a cruiser in the South Atlantic.

Three years later, the war is still going on and Molly is in the fourth grade. Ted is still at sea, as a naval officer of the USS Albacore, a submarine in the Pacific Ocean. Orchard Road feels like the safest place on earth, but somewhere on the other side of the world, Ted and his crew are carrying out dangerous missions. No one knows when they will come home, and young Molly must find a way to live with fear during wartime.

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Andrew Parker is a fine artist and printmaker whose work often appears in publications such as The New Yorker. His numerous children’s books include To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers, Across the Blue Pacific: A World War II Story, and Grandfather Tang’s Story. He lives in West Cornwall, Connecticut.
 

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-5 The author of The Greatest Skating Race (S & S, 2004) has teamed up with Parker to produce a successful and moving piece of historical fiction. This story is told as an American girl's reminiscence of her experiences during World War II. Molly's much-admired neighbor, navy man Ted Walker, is serving on a submarine in the Pacific, but to her, Orchard Road seemed the safest place on earth, and the war...well, the war was something far away. The text is deceptively simple and understated. Borden evokes the era through small details, word choices, and descriptions of everyday activities, such as building a snowman, the first day of school, writing letters to Ted, and spending summer days on the porch drinking lemonade and listening to baseball games on the radio. The war remains distant until the fateful telegram arrives. Parker alternates scenes of Molly's life with images of Ted on the USS Albacore. The artist's characteristic loose-lined ink-and-watercolor paintings capture the sense of a once-secure and orderly world becoming less stable. The lyrical prose and evocative pictures create a poignant slice-of-life tale that resonates with the emotions of the friends and family members on the homefront. The story will provide a human perspective to nonfiction accounts and may also touch a chord with children who have loved ones serving abroad. Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, WI
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About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0618339221
• ISBN 13: 9780618339228
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Robert Andrew Parker