For the Duration: The War Years

Tomie was all excited because Mr. Conklin chose him to be in a special choir. Twenty students were going to be singing a medley of patriotic songs, one from each branch of the service. "Anchors Aweigh, my boys." It was going to be a lot of fun, but when they hit "Army Air Corps anthem," particularly the line "We live in fame or go down in flame," he got all upset and ran into the boys' room and started to cry. He could only think about his cousin Blackie, a corpsman, who had died in the war. His brother Buddy, who thought he was nothing but a sissy, was mad at him for making a scene. Buddy later complained to his mother, Floss, "He's a big sissy. Everyone thinks so." The things Tomie was interested in annoyed Buddy big time. He loved to write in his diary, but probably the thing that aggravated him most was his was crazy about going to "Miss Leah's Dancing School." He was going to be in the big recital and had a great part. When he brought his tap dancing shoes to school, the other boys had a field day with him. They stole them and teased him mercilessly and Buddy just looked the other way. Now that hurt. Nothing seemed to go right for Tomie. He was just a boy who was marching to his own drummer and doing a darn good job at it. His diary key was missing, his brother hated him, he was a target for bullies and cousin Anthony (Blackie) was stolen from his life. The war years were hard and everyone said everything was "for the duration," but just how long was that going to be? I loved this little story, but felt so sorry that Tomie had such a hard time during the duration. It is a story of a young, talented boy who didn't quite fit in with the crowd and was made to pay for it by bullies (including his brother). I'm very pleased to see that people are coming forth to talk about bullying and this autobiographical tale emphasizes the hurt that is inflicted. It also shows a resilient, special young man who weathered the storm. Not all children do. This is written as if it were a simple novel and is quite easy to read. I fell in love with little Tomie and I think you will too! Tap, tap, tap!

My kids have loved all of the 26 Fairmount Avenue books so we eager to get this one as soon as it was available. It is another engaging book for kids.