The War at Home

By Connie Jordan Green

Book Overview

When her father is offered a new job-one he is not permitted to discuss- Mattie McDowell and her parents and sister move from the mountains of Kentucky to the city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Entrance to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689504705
• ISBN13: 9780689504709
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Length: 136 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.7" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

An Outstanding Book for Young Adults

This book is the best young adult book set during World War II that I have read. It is particularly good for use by teachers in Tennessee who want students to understand how people in this state were affected by the Manhattan Project, in which the atomic bomb was developed. It is exceptionally well-written.The characters in the book are extremely believable, and students will identify with the family interactions and conflicts. The setting is almost a character in the book, because the action is often greatly affected by the setting. The setting is authentically represented by the author, who lived in Oak Ridge at the time in which the book's action takes place. Anyone who has lived or worked in Oak Ridge will relate to the apt descriptions.I found the book to be action-filled enough to keep young people reading to find out more about the plot. As a teacher of Children's literature at a University, I highly recommend this book to young adults, parents, and teachers.

A Book For The Ages.

What was it like growing up in a "secret city," where fences surrounded the area and residents had to pass through guarded gates; where families lived in makeshift housing units provided by the government and fathers worked on an unknown project? It sounds like life in a foreign land, but it happened right here in the USA, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.Join the McDowell family as they face the challenges their secret world presents, especially 13-year-old Mattie, whose life is further disrupted when her pesky 12-year-old cousin Virgil comes to live with them. While World War II rages in other parts of the world, Mattie and Virgil engage in a battle of wills. Young readers will strongly identify and sympathize with Mattie and Virgil. What happens next will keep them turning the pages to see who comes out on top. As a grandmother, this reader was reminded of a time when we all joined together for a common cause. "The War at Home" is fine writing at its best. The book should be used in every school, stocked in every library, and be on every parents list of books to buy.