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World War II

Dragonfly

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Title: Dragonfly by Leila Meacham
Format: Book, Book on CD, Large Print
Who’s It For: Adults

During the Nazi occupation of Paris, five Americans went undercover to ferret out German top secrets. In short, they were spies. Samuel Barton was a civil engineer who would gather intel on German blueprints. Christoph Brandt was a track-and-field coach.  He would teach sports in a private school to children of top German officials.  Brad Hudson would use his fly-fishing skills to befriend Nazis. Victoria Grayson’s fencing skills would open avenues with German elite.  And Bridgette Loring, fashion designer, would secrete knowledge through fashionable wives and girlfriends.  

Together, their team was known as “Dragonfly.”  Although they were all trained stateside by the Office of Secret Services, their true identities were  concealed from each other.  They each had a code name and an assumed name while in France: Samuel/Lodestar/Stephane, Christoph/Lapwing/Claus, Brad/Limpet/Barnard, Victoria/Limpet/Veronique, and Bridgette/Labrador/Bernadette.  Bridgette resided at a convent.  On the wall of the convent, she painted a mural through which she could relay secret messages to the others through changes to the art.  And team members weekly submitted intel to Bridgette through a mail drop.  Bridgette in turn transmitted messages back to their OSS case officer, Alistair Renault, via a hidden radio at the convent.

What could go wrong?  What could happen if team members bumped into each other in their assumed life?  If an American turned Nazi ran into his best friend in Paris, would he turn in his countryman?  What if a Nazi fell in love with one of the women?  Would any of the five survive this dangerous mission?

My son first read this story and recommended it to me.  And I loved it!  The narration switches from one team member to another and then to Alistair, their case officer, who is very concerned for these young people.  The timeline alternates from the past to 20 years later.  All of these elements contribute to the tension and drama of the story.  It was a page-turner!

If you enjoy being immersed in another place and time in history, I recommend this book to you.

Find Dragonfly in the catalog.

They Called Us Enemy

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They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
Format: Graphic Novel
Who it’s for: Teens and Adults

What did the Japanese Internment Camps look like from a kid’s eye view? George Takei, well known for his role as Lieutenant Sulu in the original Star Trek series, was a 5 year old boy living in California in 1942 when his family was taken from their home and sent to live in a series of faraway Internment Camps for the duration of World War II.

The graphic novel is a great format for this biography that allows you to simultaneously see this story from the point of view of a child, his parents, and you the outside observer. You’ll get insight into life in the camps, the effects such an experience has on people for the rest of their lives, and the questions we must all ask ourselves about human rights, patriotism, and justice.

If you haven’t tried a graphic novel before, let this one be the first!

Find They Called Us Enemy in the catalog
Find They Called Us Enemy in Hoopla

In this Corner of the World

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In this Corner of the World
Format: DVD, Digital Movie
Who’s it for: Adults and Teens

In this Corner of the World takes place against the backdrop of Japan during the late 1930s and early 1940s, following the life of young woman growing up in World War II era Japan. The film’s style is lovely and light, almost like a watercolor, which is in stark contrast to the brutal reality of life during the war depicted in the film. The main character, Suzu Urano, is a sweet, hard working girl who loves art. As the movie progresses, so to do the years and the war. At 18 she is asked to marry a man she does not know, and after the marriage Suzu moves from Hiroshima to the small town of Kure where her husband’s family lives.

As the war continues, and the families struggle to survive, Suzu longs to return to her hometown of Hiroshima, one of the only areas that has not been damaged by air raids. The film is a lovely and heartbreaking look at wartime Japan from the point of view of an ordinary family. Focusing not on soldiers or politics, the film shows the viewer the daily life of ordinary people as their world falls down around them.

Fair warning: This movie will break your heart. As you watch the dates come and go on screen, your tension will only grow. The atomic bomb will drop – but of course that characters have no way of knowing that.

Find it in the catalog here.

The Island of the Sea Women

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The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

This book is a One Maryland One Book selection for 2020.

This historical fiction novel is set on the island of Jeju in Korea. Over many decades, beginning with the Japanese occupation during the 1930 – 1940’s and during World War II and the Korean War.
During this turbulent time in history, two young girls Young-sook and Mi-ja, both from different backgrounds bond. Their close friendship begins over their love of the sea and working in their villages’ all-female diving collective. The haenyeo woman are trained from a young age to expand their lungs and go diving on the ocean floor to harvest food. Their livelihood and traditions are intertwined. Their diving skills are handed down for generations.
Mi-ja, a city born orphan living nearby with a neglectful aunt and uncle is caught stealing food in the fields of Jeju by Young-sook and her mother. Her mother as head of the collective, decides to take Mi-ja on and teaches her alongside Young-sook to dive. The girls become lifelong friends enduring many life altering events that impact their lives growing up.
The political unrest and unspeakable tragedies inflicted upon the villagers are part of the horrors of war. The impact on their island from famine, to extreme punishment, and demands of the opposing government regimes are inflicted upon the villagers who struggle to comply.

Young-sook and Mi-ja endure impossible choices that tear their friendship apart causing disappointment, anger and judgement that take generations to understand and forgive.

Find it in the catalog

 

 

A Dangerous Act of Kindness

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A Dangerous Act of Kindness by LP Fergusson
Recommended for: Adults
Format: eBook

The dog bounded across the snowy field during a cold night in Britain.  Trailing behind on horseback, Millie called, “Gyp!  Come back!”   Gyp sniffed the ground and wound his way over to the barn.  Millie entered the shadowy structure.  She stopped short.  A man slumped against a bale, his arm at an odd angle.  With his other hand, he was pointing a gun directly at her.  Was this a German soldier?  Had he escaped the recent plane crash?  Locals had assumed he had died in the fire.  “Let me help you,” implored Millie.  “Help me?” responded her enemy.

Millie’s husband was dead.  She’d found him hanging at the end of a rope six months ago.  She wished she’d helped him before it was too late.

A snow storm was coming.  Could she aid this man without the knowledge of her neighbor, Hugh and her Land Girl, Brigsie?  Snow or not, the cows would need milking in the morning.  Brigsie would be by early to help.  And Hugh often came by too.  He would gladly become more than Millie’s friend if she gave him any encouragement.  Was she over her grief?

A Dangerous Act of Kindness is narrated by Millie, Hugh, and Lukas, the injured German.    The story reveals various perspectives of war, of love, and of forgiveness.  I was moved by the universal themes that cross culture and time.

Find it on OverDrive/Libby!

 

Mr. Churchill’s Secretary

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Mr. Churchill’s Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal
Format: eBook, digital audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

Maggie was looking forward to graduate studies in math at MIT.  When her grandmother passed, Maggie had to return to the land of her birth: England.  She planned to sell her inheritance: a big old Victorian house. Yet, with the war underway, it was no time to sell. Instead, Maggie welcomed boarders and friends: Irish Chuck (Charlotte), ballerina Sarah, stylish Paige, and the “Ding-bell” twins, Annabelle and Clarabelle.  Slowly, Maggie would fix-up the aged house.

One night, a young woman missed her bus and so walked home. On the way, she was murdered. David, a personal secretary to Churchill, urged his friend Maggie to apply for the dead woman’s job. So, Maggie joined the typing pool in the Prime Minister’s office. She longed for a more mathematical challenge. Yet, soon she had her hands full. Someone set off a bomb in a nearby train station. Was it the IRA? Also, when Maggie found some dots and dashes in the newspaper, she suspected that she had stumbled on more than an ad. Could Maggie break the code? With terrorists and spies underfoot, could Maggie help her friends and homeland before it was too late?

For all who love historical stories of suspense, this is the ticket.  And it’s the first book in a series!

Find it on OverDrive/Libby!