The Good Son by Pierre-Jacques Ober & Illus by Jules Ober and Felicity Coonan

This book, based on a real event, breaks your heart. 

And since it is based on WWI, where Veteran's Day began, it seemed fitting for today.

Created with hobby store miniatures arranged into WWI sets and then photographed, it doesn't sound like the kind of book that would move you to tears. 

But it does.

The book opens with a French soldier, Pierre, awaiting sentencing for desertion. 

His solitary meal. 

Waiting.... hoping there will be leniency since he came back of his own accord....

He thinks back to the beginning of this war. 

It was meant to be over soon. And as they walked across the French countryside in spring, it didn't seem like too much. 

(I like this plane)

But then the war dragged on. And there were horrors that young men had not been able to imagine when they headed out. 

There was so much this young soldier wanted to do with his life. Things he would never get to do if he was condemned to death by his own army.

And then the lieutenant lets him know that nameless higher-ups had decided he had to be made an example of. They didn't necessary think he was horrible and deserved to die, but he had left for a few days and even though he came back to finish his job, they were too worried other soldiers would try to take leave. So it was death for Pierre. Death so the army could terrify other men into not leaving. 

As he waits for his execution at dawn, he writes to his mother. And then you find out more about his desertion. He had promised his widowed mother that he would be home for Christmas. Since everyone said the war would be done by then. 

Not wanting to break his promise, even though the war was not done by Christmas, he went home, spent two days with his mother and came back. 

On his travels, he met the enemy--the young Germans the French were fighting against. He learned that they were tired and homesick too.  

And all the savagery of that war was more than most young men could bear. 

The ruination of human life, of spring, and of the countryside. 

Writing to his chere maman on his last night on earth.  

"I didn't want you to be alone for Christmas and now I am leaving you alone forever."

He remembers Christmas with her. "The best two days of the war."

And then the morning came. "I will wear your new socks tomorrow. You'll keep me warm, Maman." 

The war would eventually be over and won.... But not by Christmas. And not by Pierre. 

Oh my, This book just broke my heart. Trying to be a good son and good soldier and apparently failing at both and dying because of it just so a heartless official could make an example of him to keep demoralized soldiers from heading home. 

It is such a powerful book to talk about the sacrifices made by soldiers. Definitely for older readers though.... 

Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow & Illus by Ted Rand

Listen my children, and you shall hear

of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.

On the eighteenth of April in 'seventy five

Hardly a man is still alive who remembers

that famous day and year.

I loved this poem when I was a kid. As a history nerd, I loved the story of Paul Revere, but I also liked the rhythm and cadence of the words that seemed to mimic the galloping hoof beats of the horse.  

And then, I tend to be a fan of Ted Rand's work in general. 

A phantom ship, with each mast and spar

Across the moon like a prison bar.

And a huge black hull, that was magnified

By its own reflection in the tide.

Spying on the powerful British, outwitting the stronger nation, outfighting the best trained fighters in the world--the Revolutionary era is just chockful of romantic, beating the underdog stories. And Paul Revere's story is the linchpin to the successful begin of the war when we beat back the British in Lexington and Concord, inspiring pride and passion on the side of the colonists. 

Those redcoats

Climbing the belfry of the North Chapel

Paul Revere waiting for the light

One if by land, two if by sea

The fate of a nation was riding that night

And one was safe and asleep in his bed

Who at that bridge would be the first to fall

Who that day would be lying dead

Pierced by a British musket-ball.

That first shot "heard round the world" always interested me. No one could pinpoint who shot, which side was the instigator. They just know a shot was fired and a bloody six year long struggle was begun. 

As an adult, there is less romance and more agony in these stories. You understand the cost a little more--the children without fathers, the boys who would never grow up, the lives irretrievably altered by this political disagreement with the King of England. The abstract ideas of men's rights and independence having very real life consequences for a farmer's wife in the small town of Concord. 

So through the night rode Paul Revere;

And so through the night went his cry of alarm.

To every Middlesex village and farm,--

A cry of defiance and not of fear.

Hidden by Loic Dauviller, Greg Salsedo & Illus by Marc Lizano

Did you know yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day? I didn't know either, but I saw it somewhere. 

I tend to think of graphic novels as a less than serious medium, but it works. I have to say that graphic novels are still not my preferred format. I really love words and the graphic novel format doesn't give authors the opportunity to really wallow in words. 

But as someone who learned to read with Donald Duck and perfected the art with Tintin, I really can't discourage students from checking them out non-stop. 

And this book is a great example of how powerful graphic novels can be. 

This is a backwards looking book--it begins with a little girl cuddling into her grandmother during the night. 

And grandmother, Dounia, starts to tell her her story. 

Of life before the Holocaust and how things changed after the "star" was forced on them. Her father told her she got to be a sheriff like in the American West, that is why she wore a star. Her mother was upset about the star, but 

But noone else thought her sheriff's star was fun.

And her teacher was mean to her for no reason. 

Finally another Jew told her it was not a sheriff's star, but an indicator of their less than social status. 

Love in uncertain times.

And then the Nazis came.

Dounia is carefully hid and after the Nazis have left, the downstairs neighbor comes to find her. 

Her star was cut off and thrown in the fire. Dounia became a temporary Gentile.

Her new "parents" tell her she has to leave the building. Dounia is convinced staying where her parents can find her is the only way to reconnect with her parents. But she doesn't have an option. 

A dramatic exit and a traitorous neighbor

And a new life as mother and daughter.

Life in the country eventually helps Dounia smile again.

Time passes on the farm

But always, they look for news of Dounia's parents.

And.... you will have to read the book to find out the rest. 

And at the end, you find that Dounia had never been able to talk to her own children about her experiences, so through telling her granddaughter about her experience, her son finally learns about those years in his mother's life. 

A sweet look at how life moves on after hardship and how healing it can be to have no secrets from your loved ones. 

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston & Barbara Cooney

I love this book. More than a Christmas book, this is a book about sacrifices families make for the military and about good old fashioned pluckiness. 

And strength. I love how strong this momma is. 

Ruthie's house in the valley of Pine Grove. Coming on to Christmas. 

Earlier that year, her father told Ruthie it was their turn to provide a Christmas tree for the town, as each family did. He and Ruthie set out to find just the right one. 

The one they found was out on a craggy rock. They tied Ruthie's hair ribbon to the top of the tree so they would remember which tree it was when the mountains were all changed by winter and snow. 

Unfortunately, her Daddy was called up to fight in the first World War not long after that. Ruthie and Momma kept things going. 

The war was finished that November, but Ruthie's daddy wasn't on the train of returning soldiers. 

They didn't know when he would return. 

The day before Christmas Eve, the minister comes to say they will just get a tree from someone else, since they know Ruthie's father is still away. Ruthie's momma won't allow the family honor to be tarnished in that way, so she politely declines the easy way out and heads out into the moonlight with Ruthie and Old Piedy the horse to find the chosen tree. 

After a lot of walking, they finally see the tree. Away up over there. 

I may have laid down right there and died. But not these hardy women. 

They get things done. 

As the sun is rising, they drop the tree off at the church and head home. For a reason I don't really understand, the mother doesn't claim the tree. The minister comes to say it is a miracle--in the land of cedars and pines, a balsam tree was left outside the church last night. And Ruthie's momma says Imagine that! 

But whether everyone else knew or not, Ruthie and her momma would know they had done her Daddy proud. 

Ruthie goes to sleep. Her mother stays awake all day sewing Ruthie the perfect angel costume. Because whatever family gives the Christmas tree gets to have the angel part. 

Isn't this cozy? It actually was probably freezing cold. But I like the quilt.

Ruthie's tired mother sews an amazing dress. One that looks suspiciously like her wedding dress. 

The tiny angel on the top of the tree was made to exactly match Ruthie in a dress that was suspiciously similar to the silk stockings Ruthie's Daddy sent home for her Momma. 

Old Saint Nick gives her the beautiful doll. 

And that is when her Daddy comes home. 

I feel like this part is somewhat anti-climatical. It could have been so much bigger. But maybe it is just meant to be Momma and Ruthie's story. After all, they were tough enough to keep things going.