LOUISA JUNE AND THE NAZIS IN THE WAVES, by L. M. Elliott, Katherine Tegen Books, March 22, 2022, Hardcover, $16.99 (ages 8-12)
A girl sets out to do her part following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in L.M. Elliott’s Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves.
Days after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Hitler declared war on the U.S., unleashing U-boat submarines to attack American ships. Suddenly, the waves outside Louisa June’s farm aren’t for eel-fishing or marveling at wild swans or learning to skull her family’s boat — they’re dangerous, swarming with hidden enemies.
Her oldest brothers’ ships risk coming face-to-face with U-boats. Her sister leaves home to weld Liberty Boat hulls. And then her daddy, a tugboat captain, and her dearest brother, Butler, are caught in the crossfire.
Her mama has always swum in a sea of melancholy, but now she really needs Louisa June to find moments of beauty or inspiration to buoy her. Like sunshine-yellow daffodils, good books, or news accounts of daring rescues of torpedoed passengers.
Determined to help her Mama and aching to combat Nazis herself, Louisa June turns to her quirky friend Emmett and the indomitable Cousin Belle, who has her own war stories — and a herd of cats — to share. In the end, after a perilous sail, Louisa June learns the greatest lifeline is love. —Synopsis provided by Katherine Tegen Books
Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves tells the story of a lesser-known part of WWII, where civilian mariners along the United States’ East Coast faced the daily terror of Hitler’s U-boats.
But the book focuses on so much more — family, mental/emotional health, sudden loss and grief.
There’s a lovely lilting quality to author L.M. Elliot’s graceful prose. From the first chapter’s opening paragraph:
“My mama has the melancholy. Always has. But recently it’s gone from her customary pinkish-gray — like dawn mist in the marshes, still hopeful and able to clear into bright blue with the right sprinkle of sunshine — to think, storm-surge purple-black. Like rolling waves burning.”
to Louisa’s aunt’s words halfway through:
“My advice on sadness is not to ignore it, not dismiss it. Stare sorrow straight in the face. Recognize the pain for what it is. Then it will back down a tad and walk beside you, maybe give you a little bit of a limp for a while, or forever. But it will not undo you or sneak up on you from behind in a surprise attack…”
hard subjects are not only explored but tackled with a lightness and sense of purpose. Elliott draws you in and encircles you with her thoughtful text.
Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves is a must-have middle-grade historical read full of emotion, adventure and family
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