History Smashers: Pearl Harbor (History Smashers #3) Kate Messner. Illustrated by Dylan Meconis. 2021. [January] 224 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: People often tell the story of Pearl Harbor as if the Japanese attack in Hawaii happened completely out of the blue, with no warning and nothing to suggest there might be trouble.
Premise/plot: What you see is what you get. This is a nonfiction book written for young readers (elementary aged) about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Yet the book doesn't just tell the story of the events of December 7, 1941. No, the book does a good job of providing context for understanding everything surrounding Pearl Harbor. What was the relationship like between Japan and the United States leading up to Pearl Harbor? Why was there tension between the two nations? Where there signs in the months leading up to the attack? What were those signs? How did everything play out on that day? (In other words, what was the timeline for everything unfolding?) It details Pearl Harbor, of course, as you'd expect. But it also shifts to the war itself. How were Japanese-Americans treated after Pearl Harbor? Towards the end, it shifts yet again to the dropping of the two atomic bombs to end the war with Japan.
My thoughts: The subject is a heavy one. But I think it is handled with respect. I would imagine that most--if not all--of these facts will be new to the intended audience. (Particularly those facts about using Japanese-American soldiers as test subjects--aka DOG BAIT--so army dogs could be trained to sniff out "the enemy" and attack to kill. If I hadn't read a YA novel about it, I wouldn't have known. I believe the project was hush-hush at the time.) As an adult who has read widely on the subject of World War II, I didn't learn anything truly new-to-me. Yet what was presented was done well. I loved the organization, layout, presentation. I loved the blend of text and graphic panels. I loved the amount of detail.
© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers
No comments:
Post a Comment