40. Shadows on the Sea by Joan Hiatt Harlow

Shadows on the Sea by Joan Hiatt Harlow
ISBN: 0689849265
Simon & Schuster, New York, 2003
237 pages

Teaser: During WW II, Jill Winters was a young teenager when she was sent to live with her grandmother, as her uncle Cliff was dying. It was in Maine that she discovered her grandmother may be communicating with the Germans by carrier pigeon.

Summary: Jill reluctantly went to live with her grandmother, as her father traveled for his job as a singer and performer. Her mother went to the nurse her dying brother and the German’s were getting closer and closer to American submarines off the shore of Maine. Jill was worried for her family and the secrets she thought her grandmother was keeping from her. Despite the depression, her grandmother’s boarding Inn was flourishing and Jill was treated to things she knew they could not afford. The day she rescued an injured carrier pigeon with a message in German, she knew that there was more to her grandmother’s Sunday secret meetings and the town folks that she could have ever imagined. With the help of a local boy, they uncovered what the messages meant and who was sending and receiving them.

Evaluation: I thought this was a good read. It would appeal to a wide variety of young readers and kept interest going throughout the book with twists and turns. Based during WW II, it still managed to keep a flow that anyone could understand and showed the desire that teens have to compete, put each other down and to bond in unusual ways. I liked the variety of characters and flow between the multiple plots going on at the same time. The local snobbish girls club was a positive factor in turning Jill to the local outcasts, including a boy who helped her read the German message tied to the injured carrier Pigeon’s leg, only to send them hiding for their lives. It was written simply and made the reader feel familiar with the era, despite not living in that time. The underlying tones were that of trust, friendships and family values.

Challenge issues and age recommendation: The book dealt with genocide, racism, sabotage and betrayal of county. It may also be hard to follow for someone not at all familiar with history or religious persecution. I would recommend this book for late elementary school through junior high school. It was a bit simplistic for a higher grade level, although it could be used in conjunction with historical periods and for discussion purposes at a higher grade level.