It's
Marvelous Middle Grade Monday
at
at
and #IMWAYR day
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August 25, 2026 by Holiday House
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Marvel Zander lives in Dockside, North Caroline, in 1942. Her father has moved to New York to build airplanes, and her mother is working at the nearby ship yard, leaving Marvel to pick up the slack caring for her younger sister JoJo and her Gramps. The whole family is devoted to running, and Marvel especially loves to run at the Elderberry Farms facility where the Williston High School Tiger Cubs train. Her best friend Roi sometimes joins her, but he also has a lot of responsibilities at home, since his father left the family years ago, and his mother is in a tuberculosis sanatorium. When his older brother, Charlie, manages to enlist in the army, the care of their younger sister Rachel falls to Roi. Charlie, who had a hard time getting into the army, since they were reluctant to accept Black recruits, suggests that Roi contact their Aunt Vi for help, but he doesn’t. The teens are disappointed when their social studies teacher and coach also joins the army, but they like Mr. Peterson, the substitute, who has also worked as a news reporter for Black publications in Pittsburgh. He offers to help coach the track team as well, and keeps an eye on Roi’s family since he lives across the street. When a shipbuilding company starts constructing homes on the site of Elderberry Farms, there is concern that the entire property might be lost, especially since the head contractor, whom the kids refer to as “Copperhead” seems intent on ruining the Victory garden there, and is up to no good. Roi starts to write articles about what he is witnessing, and Mr. P. helps him get wider notice as Roi explores the many reasons that the Black community should work toward a “Double V”; a victory in the war and also in the treatment of Black citizens. The community rallies around the area, and a man from the War Department visits to find out what is going on. There are many challenges, and Marvel and Roi have to deal with a lot of difficulties, but they are steadfast in their endeavors to save Elderberry Farms for their community and to pursue their dreams of running and writing.
Strengths: The depiction of life in the South during World War II was nicely balanced, and I loved that while there were many realistic challenges, Marvel and Roi were willing to work tirelessly towards their goals despite the difficulties they faced. Health issues, trouble getting employment, discrimination, Victory gardens; it’s all here. The inclusion of the church is perfect, since faith based groups are such a big part of the Civil Rights movement. Mr. Peterson is a great character, and so helpful in connecting Roi to other Black journalists; the number of Black news outlets mentioned will provide a great starting point for students looking for history project topics. Including running, and mentioning other historical figures involved in the sport, will intrigue readers who are interested in athletics. I like to think that the one character with the name Hightower is a nod to Columbus, Ohio’s own Stephanie Hightower. Most of all, it was an enormous relief to have a generally upbeat book that models resilience. Ms. Headen is now my number one choice to write a middle grade novel about Greenwood, Oklahoma before the 1921 massacre.
Weaknesses: Even though the details of everyday life are good, I wanted to know more about the running gear and training. This would, of course, have made the book longer, and it was the perfect length at 224 pages. The very mild dialect distracted me at the beginning of the book, but I soon forgot about it as I got involved in the story.
What I really think: This reminded me a bit of Flake’s Hattie Mae Begins Again, although that is set in an earlier time period. There are a few books about the role of Black citizens and soldiers in World War II, but there could be so many more. This is a great addition to nonfiction titles like Binns’ Unlawful Orders: A Portrait of Dr. James B. Williams, Tuskegee Airman, Surgeon, and Activist and Hudson’s Defiant: Growing up in the Jim Crow South, and fictional ones like Cline-Ransom’s young adult For Lamb and Shabazz and Watson’s Betty Before X.
September 1, 2026 by Scholastic Focus
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
I will be purchasing this for several reasons; my students' interest in WWII still has not wanted, Fleming writes the best and most well researched nonfiction no matter what the topic, and my copy of Seiple's 2012 Ghosts in the Fog: The Untold Story of Alaska's WWII Invasion is falling to pieces! When I hand this to students, I am going to encourage them to read Fleming's introduction; this is the story of her father's involvement in this portion of the war that he never talked about. It makes seeing the war from this point of view even more poignant. Very, very well done.
Sadly, I have reached saturation with all things World War II. This was definitely more readable than most, and beautifully photoillustrated, but it's hard for me to keep all of the battles and moving around straight. I'm not sure I would pass high school social studies at this point, since I really only want to read about social history, not political or military history! Definitely purchasing for my collection. Make sure you also have Fleming's They Saved the Stallions and The Enigma Girls,
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