The Brightwood Code by Monica Hesse

Eighteen-year-old Edda Grace St. James had been a telephone operator with the American Expeditionary Forces, on the western front in France, in 1918. Her job was to "...answer the line, match the code name to a number, insert the right plug into the right jack, connect the telephone call." The codes changed every day so every night, Edda and the other girls had to memorize two pages of new codes. Then the next day they would sit down at their switchboards, "and when a caller asked to be connected to Montana or Buster or Wabash," Edda and the other operators would understand that they wanted to be connected to a specific division or general.  

Now back in America, in November of 1918, Edda is working at the Central switchboard in Washington, D.C. Her supervisor, Miss Genovese is not happy with Edda: she has incurred several "infractions" for her dress or not following proper protocol on the switchboard. Edda has been home from France for two months now. The last call of her night shift is a caller who tells her she has to tell the truth before it's too late and ends with the word, "Brightwood". Unable to find out more from the mysterious caller, Edda leaves work very upset.

She returns to her Aunt Tess's boarding house where she has a room on the fourth floor, along with other boarders including a young man, Theo Graybill who has a limp from a hip injury. Theo notices immediately that something is not right with Edda and he presses her to tell him. But all Edda will reveal is that she took a local call that was "odd". He tries to reassure Edda that the call was likely just random as it is impossible to choose the operator on a call. 

Unable to sleep after her shift, Edda decides to purchase new clothing instead of doing her laundry. While Edda is in Hecht's to purchase new white blouses and navy wool skirts, two women run in, announcing the war is over. An Armistice has been signed! This leads to partying and celebrating everywhere including at Edda's aunt's boarding house. Intoxicated after drinking champagne, and still deeply upset over the call, Edda finally tells Theo what actually happened that fateful day seven months ago in France.

She explains to Theo that as a "Hello Girl" and part of the American Expeditionary Forces, it was Edda's job as an operator to transfer calls between platoons, bases and generals, speaking and translating between French and English. Everything was in codes that changed daily. Ordered to place a call one night to Brightwood, the code Edda believes was for Baltimore's Forty-Eighth Regiment, Edda froze, unable to remember the code. The Forty-Eighth Regiment had advanced beyond the front and were trapped. Thirty-four men perished. The recent caller to her switchboard used the code, Brightwood and told her to tell the truth. 

Edda decides that she has to return to her home in Roland Park in Baltimore to retrieve a Polk's City Directory. When she calls Aunt Tess to ask her to bring money to the train station, Edda learns that one of the switchboard operators, Louisa Safechuck has killed herself. However, it is Theo who brings her the money and who accompanies Edda to Baltimore against her wishes.  On the train, Theo confesses to Edda that he shot himself in the leg to avoid going to the front.

In Baltimore, Edda and Theo have a difficult run in with her father, who is dismissive towards Theo and unkind towards Edda. After visiting the home of Charley Dannenberg, one of the soldiers who died that night, and meeting his angry father, the two return home. The very next shift, Edda receives yet another telephone call telling her she's the only one who can help them, once again mentioning Brightwood. Hysterical, her adjoining operator, Helen Gibson takes Edda to the break room where she is offered a chance to do a publicity shoot for the Hello Girls.

Back at her room, Edda tells Theo about the second call and the two sit down to try to determine which families might be the most suspect. But as Edda and Theo continue to investigate the families of the dead soldiers, Edda must finally face the reality of the trauma she experienced and tell the truth about what really happened that fateful night. 

Discussion

The Brightwood Code is a historical fiction novel set in 1918, at the end of World War I. The story focuses on Edda St. Clair, a former Hello Girl who has returned suddenly from France, traumatized by an event that led to the deaths of thirty-four young soldiers.  The story alternates between Edda in the present, in Washington, attempting to uncover the mystery of the caller and the recent past events that occurred while she was at the front in France.

Believing that she could forget what happened if she left France, and found work in a different city Edda's returns to the United States. However, her life begins to unravel. She returns home to Baltimore, her father describing her arrival "...like a ghost, telling us nothing is wrong but of course something is wrong. Her room is a pigsty. She has to be dragged into the bath." She flees from her own homecoming party and is unable to dance with the son of her father's boss. Soon after, Edda flees from Baltimore, to Washington where she is able to find work as a telephone operator with Bell. It is at this point that Edda receives two mysterious calls, mentioning the code word Brightwood and begging her to tell the truth. The past has come back to haunt her and Edda is determined to find out who is behind the calls.

Initially Edda believes that the mysterious caller is someone related to one of the dead soldiers, all of whose names she has memorized, and is asking her to claim responsibility for their deaths. Edda is certain that she is responsible because she failed to do her job. "Of course there are things I left out. But nothing that would excuse any of my behavior...Boys were dying on the front. My job was to answer telephones. My only job was to answer telephones." However as the story unfolds, it is not quite that simple.

Edda believes she must investigate each soldier's family to determine who is making the calls. Theo challenges her as to what she hopes to achieve, telling her, "But what kind of endings do you think you can give?....You can't rewrite what happened, no matter what you do. None of us can. Whatever happened is what happened." Edda tells him, "There has to be something. There has to be some kind of finality. Some kind of way of making peace. It can't be the case that something horrible happens and you just have to live, forever, with this feeling of..." 

 As Edda continues to struggle to solve the mystery of who is contacting her, her feelings of guilt and conflict intensify. "I need peace, and I need an ending, and I need to make amends and have amends made to me. And I need to bring my soul back from France. I cannot keep living divided this way, I cannot keep feeling as though I am still in that switchboard room, still in that switchboard room with Luc." 

When Edda meets Charley Dannenberg's father a second time she recognizes the "primal woundedness", the "pain stuffed down" and the "untended grief" he is experiencing because she is experiencing the same. But it's after meeting August Danneman's sister, Eliza, that Edda begins to make sense of what happened to her in France. "Is it possible that I did the best I could with the choices I had? Is it possible that what happened to the boys of the Forty-Eighth was because of something I did, but not my fault? Is it possible that I am to blame, but not to punish?"

When Theo explains how he got out of fighting in the war, he tells Edda that his choice to do anything to get out of the war means he is a coward. But Edda tells him that maybe our choices simply  show "who we were forced to be in the moment that we made them."

Early in the novel, Theo quickly and correctly surmises that Edda's trauma is somehow related to a man named Luc. Edda refuses every attempt to discuss him and it isn't until much later when she remembers the details of that night in the office that it is understandable why this is. Eventually, Edda discovers the person behind the calls and learns that they were not asking her to take responsibility for the deaths of the men of the Forty-Eighth Regiment but to expose a man who had harmed her and possibly many other Hello Girls. These revelations lead Edda to realize that she had been so focused on what happened to the young soldiers, she missed recognizing her own trauma. "I was so focused on the story of the boys who were hurt and lost at war that I missed the story of how I was hurt and lost at war. I missed part of the story. I missed my own part of the story." 

The novel highlights some of the terrible realities of World War I, a war that saw many young men humiliated into enlisting, believing that their honor depended upon doing so. The reality of the war was young soldiers were sent out again and again by generals behind the lines, to face the muck, machine gun fire and gas without any chance of success and little of surviving. As the war dragged on with neither side winning, many people came to see the war as a hopeless endeavor with little regard for the soldiers. Mr. Dannenberg states this to Edda when they meet a second time.  "The truth is that boys like him are expendable. They fought in trenches but the decision about their lives were made over the telephone by people who got to keep their hands clean. That boys like my son never belonged in France, died their because of people like you. Because you were cruel and careless. My son paid with his life, and the people who drove him to enlist, and the people who should have looked after him once he got there -- they didn't pay at all."

The character of Theo Graybill is representative of those young men who were terrified to go to war, who in some way knew the measure of what was happening, but who had no say. " 'I was so scared, ' he continues. 'When my number was called, going was what I was supposed to do. Be a man. Be the first brave man in the family. I wanted to go but I was so scared to go, and I would have done anything not to go. And then I got there and I did. Do anything. I did anything I could do to come home again....' "

The novel also highlights the almost impossible predicament women who have been sexually assaulted faced in the early twentieth century. The conversation between Edda and her supervisor, Miss Genovese portrays the difficulty they faced in reporting Luc. When Edda asks why she didn't report him, Miss Genovese states that it didn't happen to her, that she needed someone who had been harmed by Luc L'Enfant, and that she would have been blamed for allowing the assault to happen to Louisa Safechuck. She knew that Edda was likely also a victim of Luc because of her premature arrival home from France and so she needed to try to get her to report him. And still she wasn't even sure if that was enough.  "It doesn't work to have just one girl's word against a man. You need two. You need twenty...Maybe twenty still would not have been enough. Maybe none of them would have been enough."

The Brightwood Code is a well written and thought-provoking novel that uses the historical fact of the Hello Girls as its backstory. What starts out as a character trying to solve a mystery, reveals a whole other story, in a twist that is heartbreaking. In spite of all that has happened, the novel does end on a positive tone, with Edda open to developing her friendship with Theo.

The Hello Girls were female switchboard operators in what was known as the Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit during World War I. The unit was formed in 1917 and was made up of two hundred twenty three women, most of whom served in France.

The Brightwood Code is another excellent novel by author Monica Hesse and is highly recommended for older readers due to the issues explored in the novel.

Book Details:

The Brightwood Code by Monica Hesse

New York: Little, Brown and Company    2024

321 pp.

Spying on Spies: How Elizebeth Smith Friedman Broke The Nazis' Secret Code by Marissa Moss

Spying on Spies tells the story of a remarkable woman cryptographer, Elizebeth Smith Friedman.

Elizebeth was the youngest of ten children in a Quaker family. She grew up on a dairy farm in Indiana. An inquisitive person, Elizebeth wanted to attend college, something only one other sister had done. As her father refused to pay for her studies, Elizebeth managed to convince him to lend her the money and charge her interest. She studied languages, literature, history, and philosophy.

In 1915, Elizebeth found that her degree in English did not open opportunities for her. After year as a substitute principal, she decided to try to find work in Chicago. There, a chance meeting at the Newberry Library changed Elizebeth's life forever. She had gone to the library to view Shakespeare's First Folio, which was on display when the librarian questioned Elizebeth about her interest in Shakespeare. Hearing that Elizebeth was looking for a research job, she arranged a meeting that very day with a wealthy Chicago businessman, George Fabyan. This man believed that Shakespeare's plays contained a secret code proving that they were authored by Sir Francis Bacon.

Fabyan boldly insisted that Elizebeth visit his estate and she took up his offer to work on his project. She moved to his estate, called Riverside, where he lived with his wife and the other researchers. There she met the only person near to her in age, a young man named William Friedman. They soon spent most of their work and free time together.

Elizebeth struggled to believe in the work she was doing for Fabyan. When she and William presented strong evidence against any code existing in the Shakespearean text, both Fabyan and Elizabeth Wells Gallup, the head researcher, refused to believe them.

With the start of World War I, Fabyan saw a need for people to crack the secret codes spies might be using so he invited code experts to meet his code team at Riverbank, The War Department, impressed with Elizebeth and William's abilities, began to use Fabyan's cipher team. Soon Riverbank was receiving envelopes full of coded messages and ciphers. One decoded cipher revealed that Germany was working with Mexico to foment a war with the United States as a distraction from the war in Europe.  This indicated that the United States needed it's own decryption unit and Elizebeth and William became that unit. 

Initially Elizebeth and William did all the code-breaking, solving messages by Hindu groups in the U.S. who were working to target England. India wanted independence from Britain at this time so it made sense that they would try to work against the country that had colonized them. A second Hindu group was also decoded. These groups used specific books for their codes.

Working together so closely resulted in a strong bond of mutual respect between Elizebeth and William despite their very different backgrounds. They married in May of 1917 in Chicago. Because they were so accomplished at their work, the Army wanted them but Fabyan interfered, determined to keep them at Riverbank.  In 1918, William, having learned that the War Department actually wanted him, "...enlisted as an officer in the Radio Intelligence Unit in the U.S. Army Signal Corps."  He passed the physical exam which he had strangely failed earlier, and was sent to France in 1918. Elizebeth was unable to enlist so she was stuck in America until William returned home in  April of 1919. 

Although Elizebeth and William reluctantly returned to Riverbank, eventually they  decided to leave. With the start of Prohibition in 1920, they accepted a job offer from the Army. By 1921, Elizabeth and William had moved out of Riverbank and began working for the U.S. Signal Corps in Washington, D.C. William began to study machines such as the German Enigma, used to encipher messages. Elizebeth took a job as a cryptographer with the U.S. Navy after quitting the Signal Corps but quit after six months and then gave birth to the couple's first child, daughter Barbara. In 1926, she had a second child, John.

In 1931, Elizebeth  headed up her own team, at the US Treasury, consisting of three men and two women, had her own office and was the "cryptanalyst-in-charge". Her work involved solving codes and ciphers of criminals and smugglers, especially involved in illicit alcohol sales during Prohibition. She also testified in court.

With the approach of war and the beginning of World War II, Elizebeth began working on Nazi spy messages, especially those in South America. It was during the war that Elizebeth's incredible abilities were to play a significant role in helping the Allies win the war. 

Discussion

Spying On Spies is an engaging and informative account of master cryptologist, Elizebeth Smith Friedman. Her remarkable life spans the first part of the twentieth century including World War I, Prohibition, and World War II. Author Marissa Moss writes in her Author's Note that she wanted to tell Elizebeth's story because her accomplishments were overshadowed by her husband. Most of her work was classified and it's only recently that contributions and accomplishments of Elizebeth Smith Friedman have come to be rightfully acknowledged. 

Moss's account of Elizebeth's life and career as a cryptographer describes the obstacles she faced as a young woman in the first half of the 20th century. Despite her superior abilities, which were repeatedly proven, Elizebeth faced significant obstacles and her abilities were often not recognized. The main obstacles were the  social conventions, expectations and attitudes towards women at this time. Elizebeth's parents believed she belonged in the home as a wife and mother, but her inquisitive mind wanted much more. She showed determination and fortitude in forging ahead with her education, managing to convince her father to lend her money to study at a six percent interest rate!

When she obtained her advanced education, Elizebeth realized her degree did not afford her the same opportunities as it would have for a man. But undaunted, she managed to obtain a position working on codes for a wealthy businessman that was eventually to lead to her life's work. During World War I she faced the obstacles of not being able to enlist in the US Army like her husband could, nor to even vote. At the end of World War I, despite being considered a military cipher expert, Elizebeth was better known as the wife of William Friedman. She was often hired, not on her own merits, but because the US Navy wanted her husband. She had to contend with a press who viewed her in very traditional terms, not as an intelligent woman but as " a pretty young woman in a frilly pink dress." 

Moss demonstrates how Elizebeth's work was so crucial to the United States during World War I and World War II. For example, during World War I, Elizebeth, along with William was able to solve a cipher from the German diplomat, Arthur Zimmerman. Known as the  "Zimmerman Telegram", it revealed that Germany was attempting to incite Mexico to attack the United States and so distract them from the war in Europe. During World War II, Elizabeth decoded a message which revealed Germany's plan to sink the RMS Queen Mary carrying over 8000 soldiers. From the messages, Elizabeth knew the U-boat locations and the ship was able to safely transit the Atlantic Ocean.

Her work was vital to the U.S. understanding what was happening in South America during World War II.  Many Germans had  fled to South America after World War I. There were Nazi spies in Argentina as well as throughout South America. The U.S. wanted to avoid a Nazi takeover of South America. After the June 4, 1943 coup in Argentina, in August of that year Elizebeth was able to decipher a message which revealed what Germany and Argentina were planning or South America: " a block of South American countries" that Argentina and Germany would rule. They could then move on to attack North America. 

Because her and William's work was so top secret, their contributions have remained hidden for decades. It is only recently with the release of some of the material taken from from their home and from the George C. Marshall Research Library by the NSA (National Security Association) that  the amazing work and abilities of Elizebeth Smith Friedman has come to light. 

Readers interested in codes and ciphers and in recent works about Enigma and Alan Turing will enjoy Moss' biography on the incredibly gifted Elizebeth Smith Friedman. She solved the "Red" Enigma used by the SS at the same time as Turing and Bletchley Park but did it without the help of a computer, demonstrating her remarkable abilities as a cryptanalyst. 

Moss has included a short Author's Note, a Glossary, a chapter titled What Are Codes? What Are Ciphers? which has copies of the Zimmerman telegram and the unsolved Voynich Manuscript, a very detailed Timeline which includes many black and white photographs of Elizebeth, William and their children, and Notes for sources for each chapter, and an Index. 

Book Details:

Spying On Spies: How Elizebeth Smith Friedman Broke The Nazis' Secret Code by Marissa Moss

New York: Abrams Books For Young Readers    2024

224 pp.

Cher Ami by Melisandre Potter

Many different animals have been recruited during wars to help soldiers. In World War I, homing pigeons were one animal that was used.

Cher Ami was a little pigeon who lived on a farm in England. She would fly across meadows and streams, over rooftops and trees with her friends. Cher Ami always returned home.

When World War I began, pigeons were needed to carry messages to troops. So Cher Ami was sent to a training camp in France. Each day she underwent training to learn to fly farther and farther will messages. 

A tiny metal canister with a note was fastened to her leg. Her trainer would toss her into the air in the direction of her coop across the field where her dinner was waiting for her. 
The distance was increased daily until Cher Ami could travel long distances. 

Finally in October she was ready to be sent to the front lines along with six hundred passenger pigeons. This was very different than her training grounds: the sounds of war were loud and frightening but Cher Ami was brave. She took messages to the troops at different parts of the battlefield, completing twelve dangerous missions.

Her most dangerous mission occurred when a group of American soldiers were trapped in a ravine and surrounded by the enemy. The soldiers were being fired on by not only the enemy but their own troops who did not know where they were. The trapped soldiers sent Cher Ami on a desperate mission to inform their headquarters their location. Two other passenger pigeons had failed but Cher Ami succeeded despite being badly wounded. The message would save the lives of one hundred-ninety-four soldiers.

Surgeons saved Cher Ami's life although she did lose her leg. Afterwards, she was sent to America and became a mascot of the American Army.

Discussion

Cher Ami was born April 12, 1917 in Britain and was donated to the U.S. Signal Corps for use in France, during World War I.

Although Cher Ami successfully delivered twelve messages for the Americans in the Verdun sector, it was his valiant effort to deliver a message on October 3, 1918 to division headquarters that he is best remembered for. Over five hundred men, under the command of Major Charles White Whittlesey were trapped behind enemy lines in a ravine. The first two homing pigeons they had sent with messages asking for help were shot down by the Germans. Cher Ami was their last hope. He too was shot down, receiving a bullet through the breast, blinded in one eye and a leg hanging by a tendon. But Cher Ami rose up and flew 

In the Author's Note Potter mentions that Cher Ami was assumed to be male but was later determined to be female by a taxidermist at the Smithsonian. However, the U.S. Army Signal Corps has always listed Cher Ami as a hen while the Smithsonian has always listed Cher Ami as a Black Check cock carrier pigeon - a male. However, modern DNA testing has confirmed that Cher Ami was male as initially classified by the Smithsonian. The only evidence that led the Smithsonian to originally classify Cher Ami as male was from correspondence from Captain C.C. Hungerford of the Signal Corps to the Smithsonian in which he used the pronouns "he" and "his". It would be decades later that this could finally be confirmed.

Potter has told the story of Cher Ami in a simple and appealing way, focusing on his many contributions to American soldiers in France during the war. Of course the highlight is Cher Ami's miraculous flight  that would save many trapped men. For this, Cher Ami was awarded the Croix de Guerre medal and in 2019 was awarded the Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery.

Melisandre Potter's daughter, Giselle provided the illustrations for Cher Ami. In her A Note From the Artist, Giselle indicates that she viewed photographs of Cher Ami but that her artwork was created to keep this famous homing pigeon the focus of the story. For example, the pigeons were transported to France in crates and not wire cages but her illustration shows the later so that readers can see the pigeons. Giselle Potter's illustrations were rendered in watercolor and ink on paper.

Cher Ami will be of interest to those young readers who love animals, and especially birds. The back matter also contains A Note from the Author and a Sources page.

Book Details:

Cher Ami by Melisandre Potter
New York: Christy Ottaviano Books: Little, Brown and Company    2022

Lines of Courage by Jennifer A. Nielsen

In Lines of Courage, Nielsen weaves together the stories of five fictional characters from different countries to bring to life the events of World War I .

Felix Baum

Twelve-year-old Felix Baum lives in Lemberg in the Austria-Hungary empire with his mother and father. It is June 12, 1914, and Felix and his father have just left their train in Sarajevo to walk to their hotel. Nearby, they see Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the future emperor, accompanied by his wife. They are surrounded by a crowd of unhappy people.

Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia which was annexed in the Austria-Hungary empire six years earlier. However, Bosnia did not want this and neither did its neighbour, Serbia which hoped to establish its own empire. Felix's mother had warned them not to travel to Sarajevo, that a group of Serbian rebels called the Black Hand would be there. It seems his mother may have been correct.

Felix and his father watch as the Archduke and his wife travel by open limousine through the streets crowded with angry people. It is during the Archduke's trip through the streets of Sarajevo that Felix and his father witness the assassination of the Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Because of this they leave the city immediately.

At home in Lemberg, things are quiet. At a dinner party hosted by his parents, Felix meets eleven-year-old Elsa Dressler, the daughter of a German Major. She gives Felix a carrier pigeon, so they can correspond even though Felix isn't interested. Elsa tells him that war is coming because Germany has prepared for war with a modern army and that it wants war. This prospect worries Felix.

A month after the assassination, the world awaits Serbia's answer to the Kaiser's ten demands. When the deadline passes, war is declared by Austria on Serbia. Felix's papa is to report to Vienna for service. His papa tells him that Austria-Hungary will be fighting not only Russia, but France and Great Britain as well. 

Eventually the war comes to Lemberg, which is occupied by the Russians. Felix and his mother attempt to escape but are too late and are forced to host the Russians. Captain Garinov wants his mother to identify the Jews living in Lemberg so they can be deported to camps. Felix refuses to cooperate and is chained to a fence post. With the help of Elsa and her mother, they make a daring escape out of Lemberg to Vienna.

 

Kara Webb

In their small fishing town on the British coast, thirteen-year-old Kara Webb and her mother flee from the bombs being dropped by a German airship. It is January 19, 1915. Kara's mother is a nurse who has been helping tend to wounded soldiers being sent over from the battlefields in France and Belgium to local hospitals. Kara hopes one day to be a nurse.

Seeing people wounded from the bombing, Kara runs to help her mother treat them. When a woman mentions the Red Cross, Kara's mother reveals that she has been asked to join them but that she cannot leave her daughter. Later Kara learns that her mother has been asked to work on the ambulance trains in France. Kara not only wants her mother to accept but also wants to accompany her.

Kara and her mother arrive in France to work on an ambulance train. They meet Corporal Bryant, the orderly who explains that the train is comprised of sixteen cars and can hold up to five hundred wounded. Although not officially part of the Red Cross, Kara hopes by her work on the train, delivering food, reading letters to the soldiers and carrying messages from one ward to another she might earn her Red Cross pin. Captain Stout is encouraging to Kara, but he warns her to follow the rules and not to administer emergency care to the patients.

Then in June their ambulance train is ordered very close to the front. Kara is not allowed to help stretcher wounded back to the train but is forced to wait for them to arrive. However, when an orderly breaks his ankle, Kara is allowed to fill in and partner with Corporal Bryant until a shell severely injures Bryant. Kara's quick thinking saves Bryant when they are caught in a poison gas attack. 

At a Casualty Clearing Station in Northern France, Kara makes the decision to sneak aboard the train an injured Austro-Hungarian soldier, Sergeant Baum who is seriously wounded. For disobeying the rules, Kara is forced to give up her apron and stop helping on the train. She is devastated but certain she has done the right thing. Sergeant Baum survives and tells her about his son Felix who is determined to become a soldier because of how badly he was treated by a Russian soldier. In thanksgiving for saving his life, he gives her his Austria war medal.

 

In December of 1915, during a visit to the town of Verdun, France, Kara and her mother meet Juliette, a refugee from Lille who is selling jewelry to buy food. Kara worries for Juliette because the rumours are that the Germans are coming to the town, which is considered a key location. She pays for Juliette's red hat but returns the hat because she can see the girl will need it during the cold days ahead.

Juliette Caron

February, 1916 and Juliette Caron, her younger brothers Marcel and Claude and her mother quickly pack some belongings in preparation for evacuating Verdun. Juliette and her family have already fled from their home in Lille but now as the Germans gain more territory they must flee Verdun too. They  are taking valuables to sell in the hopes of bribing the Germans to release Papa from prison in Lille. 

Because they take so long to pack, Juliette's family find themselves alone on the road out of Verdun and soon encounter the arriving German soldiers. When they surround their wagon, Juliette flees into the woods to safeguard their money. She becomes separated from her family and is forced to hide overnight. She is found half frozen and unconscious by an orderly from the hospital train that stopped outside of Verdun.

On the train she is helped by Kara who tells her that there are refugee camps throughout France, with lists of people who are lost. This will help Juliette be reunited with her family. Juliette decides to leave the train in March and head to Lille to try to get her father out of prison. However, in Lille things do not go according to plan: she has her money stolen by Monique, a girl who has taken her in, and her attempt to bribe Major Dressler fails. She and Monique are also captured by the Germans, along with many other French girls and forced to work on a local farm.

With Monique's help, Juliette escapes the farm but is captured by Major Dressler in July. He tells her that he has met with her father in prison and they have become friends. Acting on a promise he made to her father, Dressler escorts Juliette across German lines into French territory where she is reunited with Kara and the hospital train. Juliette is allowed to stay on the train for two months, helping in the kitchen and laundry. Major Stout has reconsidered and reinstates Kara, designating her as a "nurse-in-training". At this time Juliette decides to leave the train and search for her family around Verdun. She hopes her mother may have found refuge in a nearby cave.

In the trenches outside Verdun, Juliette finds much needed food and supplies, left behind by the retreating Germans. A search of devastated Verdun doesn't turn up her family and she returns to the caves. But one day  in December, 1916, while looking for firewood, Juliette sees a wounded soldier wandering through a minefield. She manages to lead him to safety and takes him to the caves.

Dimitri Petrenko

Fourteen-year-old Dimitri and his friend Igor Zolin are fighting alongside French soldiers. They have no weapons and are ordered by Captain Garinov to go out into no-man's-land to get one from a dead soldier. But as they are out, crawling along the ground, the Germans attack. Dimitri is knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he wanders off into a minefield where he is helped by a girl. When he awakens he finds himself being cared for by Juliette in a cave.

The talk about their families and what the war has done to their lives. Dimitri decides he will return to his unit to continue to fight for freedom especially after what he has seen in Europe. When it comes time for him to leave, Juliette gives him a haversack and her red knit hat. He also discovers that she has given him the Austrian war medal.

Back in the trenches, reunited with his friend Igor, Dimitri and the other soldiers are ordered by Captain Garinov over the top. It is April 1917 and during this battle Igor is killed by a grenade. After the battle the Russian soldiers learn that the Tsar has abdicated and the revolution in Russia has begun. They refuse to fight and after a confrontation with the French Commandant LeBlanc, leave the war. Dimitri doesn't follow Garinov and the other soldiers as he supports the Tsar. However, he finds himself a prisoner of war when he is captured by the few German soldiers who survive the destruction of their trench.

Dimitri finds himself in a prison camp in Freiburg, Germany and after five months is sent to work on Major Dressler's home. It is November, 1917. At the Dressler home, Dimitri discovers his enemy, Captain Garinov is also a prisoner. When Garinov discovers Dimitri has an Austro-Hungarian medal, he tells Elsa that Dimitri has stolen it. Elsa tells him that the medal belongs to the father of a boy named Felix. Dimitri tells her that he was given the medal by a British girl on a hospital train. When Elsa tells her father what happened, instead of punishing Dimitri, he arranges for him to be driven to the French border and to safety. He tells Dimitri not to return to Russia because of the revolution but instead to go to Verdun, to Belleray where he will be able to get a job with an old friend of Dressler. In Belleray, Dimitri is hired to work at Dressler's friends market. And it is there that he meets the mother of a girl he knows is searching for her family.

Elsa Dressler

It is now April of 1918 and it's evident that Germany is losing the war. The people of Germany and starving and Elsa and her family are also struggling. Their neighbours are blaming her father who told them the war would bring glory to Germany.  They want a new government but the type of country they want, Major Dressler does not want to be a part of because they "...want a Germany of pure-blood Germans only..." While he is away, he tells Elsa they must focus on working in their garden so they will have the food they need.

At the market, Elsa spies Garinov, the Russian captain who ran off with their horse. Scared he might harm them, Elsa's mother writes to her father for direction. Meanwhile they receive a letter from Felix Baum asking to visit them in Freiburg. Conditions continue to deteriorate as Elsa and her family run out of food rations and are unable to sell any of their valuables to buy food. By November of 1918, Dressler writes to tell them that Germany is asking for peace. He also indicates that he will return home after he is released from the army and they will make plans to leave Germany. However, Major Dressler is attacked and seriously injured near Belleray by angry Germans. To help him, Elsa will need the help of many people.

 

Discussion

Lines of Courage attempts to portray the far-reaching effects of World War I on English, French, German and Russian civilians and soldiers through the stories of five teens. World War I had its beginnings with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungary throne, and his wife Sophie in September of 1914. The resulting war would draw in many countries in the world, beginning with Austria-Hungary and Serbia, and radiating out to their allies including Britain and its colonies, France, Germany, and Russia.

Nielsen breaks her story up based on her five fictional characters from these countries: Felix Baum from Lemberg (now Lviv, Ukraine), Kara Webb from England, Juliette Caron from Lille, France, Dimitri Petrenko from Russia and Elsa Dressler from Germany. Although they begin the war in very separate places, their paths crisscross, ultimately converging at the end of the novel. They are brought together by a series of circumstances, ultimately connected by deliberate acts of courage.

The line of courage is represented by the Golden Cross of Merit, Felix Baum's father attempts to give him at the beginning of the novel. However, Felix refuses his father's offer, telling him, "I won't accept what I haven't earned." So Sergeant Baum keeps it with him until his life is saved by the courageous action of Kara Webb who disobeys orders and loads the seriously wounded Baum onto the hospital train. This results in Kara losing her job of helping on the train. Baum recognizes the risks Kara took and gives her the medal. He tells her "...perhaps one day you can share this medal with someone else. I like to think that it will become part of a journey that inspires courage in others."

When Juliette Caron is rescued, nearly frozen, Kara helps her calm down and figure out what she needs to do next. To help her get her father out of prison in Lille, Kara gives her the Golden Cross of Merit to use as part of a bribe. This plan fails and after many events, Kara finds herself in the caves outside Verdun. It is there that she courageously rescues Russian, Dimitri Petrenko, who is wounded and not aware he is walking through a mine field. She has now earned the medal. But when Dimitri tells her he must return to the war so that he can earn a medal that will make a better life possible for his family in Russia, Juliette passes the medal onto Dimitri. The medal is then taken from Dimitri when he is a prisoner of war by Captain Garinov, who insists that Dimitri has stolen it. Once Major Dressler learns the truth about the medal, he accepts it from Dimitri whom he sets free as an act of kindness, recognizing that he is too young to be a soldier.

With the medal in his possession, Dressler returns to Lille to help free Juliette Caron's father as well as many of the other prisoners. However, with the war almost over, Elsa's father, Major Dressler is seriously wounded by fellow German soldiers. With the help of Elsa, Felix, Dimitri and Juliette, and Captain Garinov, Major Dressler is taken to the hospital train where Kara works. The medal has come full circle. In the end we learn that Felix has earned his own medal for bravery. Major Dressler tells them that each has earned it in their own way. "This medal belongs to every one of you. At some point, each of you found yourself in a terrible situation, and you responded with courage, with honor, and with kindness. Through your examples, you saved me." 

Nielson packs much information about the war and fighting into the novel through her characters. For example, Sergeant Baum attempts to explain to Kara what the fighting is really like and later in the novel readers are presented with the utter destruction that occurred during the war in Verdun when Juliette returns to try to find her home:
"...Most of the few buildings still standing looked ready to topple over with the next gust of wind. Half of them had at least one wall stripped away. Any memories that might have been preserved for the families who'd lived there once were now open for anyone to view, or they had been long ago scattered about.....
At last she turned onto a road that was familiar. There, not far ahead, stood a house that she recognized, left nearly intact. Her home would be across the road and thirty steps down.
Yet thirty steps later, she stood facing a pile of rubble, rocks and plaster and brick jumbled up with items she vaguely recognized as having belonged to her family once.
This could not have been her home, not this terrible pile of broken dreams. But it was."

 

Lines of Courage does capture some of the reality of life during the Great War; - the devastation from years of shelling and gas, the terror of battle for the soldiers, the displacement of refugees and the fragility of their existence in countries torn apart by war, the fear and mistrust people from one nation had for people from other nations, the futility of war. The end of the war is also shown to be a time of upheaval with references to the revolution in Russia and the murder of the Tsar and his family, of the coming of the Spanish Flu which Elsa's mother contracted, and the discontent and anger in Germany over losing the war and the foreshadowing of an even worse time to come. 

There is a detailed Author's Note at the back with information on the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the Red Cross trains, trench warfare, the Battle of Verdun, the Russian Revolution, the Weimar Republic and the impact of World War I. 

Lines of Courage is another outstanding novel by Jennifer Nielsen. Informative, engaging and realistic is it's portrayal of war and its impacts on soldiers and civilians alike.

Book Details:

Lines of Courage by Jennifer A. Nielsen
New York: Scholastic Press      2022
388 pp.

Sergeant Billy by Mireille Messier

Sergeant Billy was a goat who travelled with a group of Canadian soldiers to the muddy trenches of France during World War I.

At the beginning of World War I, a train full of soldiers stop in a small prairie town and spy a goat named Billy. The soldiers ask Daisy, the young girl who owns the goat, if they can borrow him.They believe he will bring them good luck in the war. Daisy agrees and so Billy travels to training camp with the soldiers. They decide to call  him Private Billy.

Private Billy marched and trained with the soldiers of the 5th Battalion. When it was time go to England then on to war, the Colonel told his soldiers they could not take Billy. However, they couldn't part with their mascot and they managed to sneak him onto the ship.

When it came time for the Fighting Fifth to leave England and begin fighting, they were told Private Billy could not accompany the troops. Mascots were not allowed at the front. So determined to bring Private Billy to France, they purchased a large wooden crate of oranges, sold them and used the crate to smuggle the goat onto the ship.

In the trenches, Private Billy didn't seem to mind the mud, the rats or the bad food. When rations were low, Private Billy ate the colonel's papers! For that he was arrested and put in jail. But Private Billy was forgiven when the colonel saw how unhappy his men were without their mascot. Private Billy was promoted to sergeant for his role in the battalion. At Ypres, he captured an enemy soldier. At Hill 63, Sergeant Billy got trench foot and at Hill 70 he was shell-shocked. He even saved some soldiers lives at Festubert when he butted them into a trench, saving them from an incoming shell. He even became a decorated war hero being awarded the Mons Star.

After the war, the Fifth Battalion returned Sergeant Billy to Daisy in 1919.

Discussion

Sergeant Billy is the true story of a goat adopted by a group of soldiers as they passed through Saskatchewan, enroute to war. It is a story reminiscent to that of Winnie, a bear cub found by Harry Colebourn at a train station and who would become Winnie the Pooh,

Billy the goat was adopted by the 5th Battalion C.E.F. in 1914 as the soldiers headed east by train.The battalion was organized on August 10, 1914 and headed by train to Camp Valcartier in Quebec. On the way, the train stopped at Broadview, Saskatchewan where they saw Daisy Curwain and her goat Bill. The men wanted Bill as their mascot and Daisy agreed. 

After their training at Valcartier, they travelled with Billy on the S.S. Lapland at Quebec in a convoy with naval escort from Gaspe" on October 3, 1914. They arrived at Plymouth on October 14, 1914 and disembarked at Devonmouth on October 20th. The battalion spent the winter of 1914-15 training on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. 

When the battalion received orders to go to the front,  they were told animals were not allowed to be brought along. The men, determined to bring along their mascot, purchased a crate of oranges from a woman and Billy was placed into the crate and spirited onto the ship. The battalion travelled on the S.S. Lake Michigan arriving at St. Nazaire, France on February 14, 1915.

Life in the trenches appealed to Billy who loved canteen beer and often ate any papers he found. All of the events described in Messier's delightful picture book actually happened. Messier tells all the basic facts of Billy the goat's service in World War II. At the back is a short section on animals in World War I along with some photographs of Sergeant Billy with his beloved troops and on display in the Broadview Museum in Saskatchewan. Canadian artist, Kass Reich handpainted the illustrations using gouache and then added details digitally. 

Sergeant Billy is another interesting picture book that highlights the role animals have in helping soldiers during war. In Sergeant Billy's case, he not only helped with morale but even saved the lives of some soldiers.

Book Details:

Sergeant Billy: The True Story of THE GOAT Who Went To War by Mireille Messier
New York: Tundra Books   2019

DVD: 1917

1917 is a war movie that tells the story of two fictional soldiers and their journey to warn another British unit that it is not to launch a planned attack on German lines.

Lance Corporal Thomas Blake learns that his leave has been cancelled and that he must see General Erinmore immediately. Told to pick a buddy to come with him, Blake choses Lance Corporal William Schofield. They meet with General Erinmore who asks Blake if he has a brother in the 2nd Devons.  He responds that his brother Joseph is in the 2nd Devons. On a map Erinmore shows Blake the location of the 2nd Devons and asks him how long it would take him to travel there. 

On the ground it appears the Germans have undertaken a strategic withdrawal. Colonel MacKenzie, in command of the 2nd Devons, has sent a message indicating that he is going after the retreating Germans. He believes he can break them. But Erinmore tells Blake that MacKenzie is wrong.

Aerial reconnaissance indicates that the Germans have extensive fortifications, defenses and a new type of artillery. The 2nd are to attack the German line in the morning tomorrow but they do not know about these fortifications. Erinmore can't warn the 2nd because the Germans have cut all their phone lines. Blake and Schofield are to travel to the 2nd Devons at their current position at Croisilles Wood, one mile southeast of the town of Ecoust, and deliver a message to Colonel MacKenzie to call off the attack. If they fail, they will lose two battalions, sixteen hundred men including Blake's brother Joseph Blake.

After being told to leave immediately, Blake and Schofield are given a few supplies and directions to the Yorks. They are to follow the trench west up on Sauchiehall Street, the northwest on Paradise Alley at the front. They are to continue along the front line until they find the Yorks. There they must give a note to Major Stephenson who is holding the line at the shortest span of  no-man's land. It is at this point that they will cross. When they express concern about crossing in daylight and being seen they are told not to worry as there should be no resistance. Nevertheless, as they leave, Schofield tries to convince Blake to wait until dark but he refuses, saying he must save his brother.

Blake and Schofield reach the Yorks and learn that Major Stephenson has been killed and replaced by Lieutenant Leslie. The lieutenant believes MacKenzie is crazy to believe the Germans have retreated. Despite his deep cynicism, Leslie, who tells Blake and Schofield there "is nothing like a scrap of ribbon to cheer up a widow", gives them directions on how to cross no-mans land.

The two soldiers succeed in crossing no mans land and enter an abandoned German bunker which they discover has been booby-trapped. Schofield is almost killed by rock debris when a rat trips the wire and causes an explosion. He is saved by Blake who helps lead him out of the bunker and then wash the rock dust out of his eyes. They cross the rest of no-0mans land, and pass through a deserted forest.

At an abandoned farmhouse, Blake and Schofield are almost killed when a German plane is shot out of the sky and crash lands in the ruins of the barn. The two soldiers rescue the pilot, his suit in flames, from the plane. When Schofield wants to shoot the pilot, Blake insists that they help him. While Schofield is getting water from the well, the pilot turns on Blake and fatally stabs him. Schofield promises a dying Blake that he will continue their mission and find the 2nd Devons to bring Erinmore's message and thus save his brother.

Shortly after Blake's death, Schofield is helped by a unit of British soldiers who have just crossed no-mans land near Bapaume. The commander, Captain Smith offers Schofield a ride part of the way to Ecouste. They are going up to the new line as the Newfoundlanders have requested reinforcements. Just outside of Ecouste, Schofield is once again on his own, as the troops cannot cross the downed bridge into the town.

In Ecouste, Schofield is targeted by German snipers and is eventually grazed and knocked out. When he awakens he finds the town burning. Still being chased by German soldiers, Schofield stumbles into a basement where he finds a young woman caring for a starving baby. He gives her all his food, including his canteen filled with milk.

At daylight Schofield continues on his journey but again encounters German soldiers and is pursued until he jumps into the river and is carried downstream to the Croisilles Wood. Schofield doesn't know this is where he has beached until he hears singing which leads him to the 2nd Devons. The soldiers are preparing to go into battle and Schofield now faces a race to save at least some of the soldiers from certain death.

Discussion

1917 follows the journey of two soldiers as they race against time and fend off certain death to warn a British battalion it is walking into a trap by attacking what appear to be retreating German soldiers. The mission is made even more urgent in that the soldier chosen to deliver the message has a brother in the at-risk battalion.

The film 1917 presents a somewhat false view that the British command during the Great War was deeply concerned about the loss of men. In fact, the potential loss of sixteen hundred men is almost insignificant considering that over one hundred thousand British soldiers died during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. For many military commanders, these losses were deemed necessary by those in positions of authority in France, Britain, Germany and even Russia. Soldiers spent years fighting over mere yards of land, despite command knowing that certain death awaited them every time they were ordered out of their putrid trenches.

Putting aside this fictional representation, 1917 does attempt to portray the desolation and destruction of war but the film in many ways is a very sanitized presentation of war; viewers only get a quick glimpse of bodies or part of bodies in no man's land, the fires in Ecoust are in the distance, the strangulation of a German soldier by Schofield is in shadow, soldiers fall in a clean, indifferent way in the first wave of the 2nd Devon's attack and even Blake's death is quick. Granted the film's focus is on the two soldiers and eventually just Schofield and his journey through many obstacles. This is accomplished with amazing cinematography and that is where this film's strength lies. Perhaps the most touching moment is near the film's end, when Schofield talks with Blake's brother, Lieutenant Joseph Blake, asking him if he can write to their mother. He wants her to know Tom didn't die alone. 

The casting is particularly strong, with both George Mackay as Schofield and Dean-Charles Chapman as Blake giving solid performances. There are a few big names including Colin Firth as General Erinmore and Benedict Cumberbatch as Colonel MacKenzie in cameo roles.

There have been numerous war movies of late, a theme that doesn't seem sustainable given the current depressing climate of Covid. Movie buffs will likely be looking for lighter fare in the coming months. Nevertheless, 1917 offers a suspenseful, fictional treatment of the Great War, with some beautiful cinematography and a lovely haunting melody at the end.

A Bear In War by Stephanie Innes and Harry Endrulat

A Bear In War is based on the true story of a young girl who sends her beloved teddy bear over to Belgium in the hopes it will protect her father during World War II.

In 1916, with World War I at a stalemate in Europe, ten-year-old Aileen Rogers and her new teddy bear named Teddy are traveling home in their sleigh to their farm in East Farnham, Quebec.  Teddy notices that Aileen is wearing a metal brace on her leg and limps. She reveals to Teddy that she had polio and now has to wear a brace to support her weakened leg. This means she can't run and jump like the other children. Teddy tells her that this doesn't matter to him. Aileen's younger brother Howard thinks Teddy is rather small, but her father points out that "Sometimes the smallest ones have the biggest hearts..."

There are plenty of chores to do both in the house and on the farm. Aileen and Teddy set the table and after dinner wash the dishes. Afterwards, Aileen and her mother help in the barn, feeding the horses hay and oats.  Aileen tells Teddy about the war explaining that war happens "when people from one country fight people from another country."  That night as her father reads stories about the war in the Montreal Gazette he is worried.

The morning is filled with more chores, which Aileen does with Teddy "snug in the pocket of Aileen's coat." That afternoon they return to town to attend church. In town they see recruiting posters for the war. There are few men at church as most of them are off fighting in Europe.

One night Aileen's life changes forever when her father tells her that he has enlisted to go fight in the war. Although Aileen is proud of her father, she tells Teddy that she wishes he could stay at home.Aileen's father travels to Valcartier where he trains to be a soldier. Aileen along with her mother, brother and Teddy travel to visit her father at Valcartier.

Aileen's father's letters eventually reveal that he has sailed to England on the RMS Hesperian. After time in England, her father is eventually sent to Belgium. After much consideration, Aileen decides to send her most prized possession, Teddy to her father, "...to remind him of home and to keep him safe."  Sadly, although Teddy would return home, Aileen's father did not. Teddy would see all that the war would involve and Aileen's father's heroic efforts to help the soldiers as a medic. He was recovered from a pocket in her father's uniform and sent home.

Discussion

A Bear In War is a truly a deeply moving and endearing picture book. Although the story is based on real events about a young girl losing her father in the Battle of Passchendaele in the fall of 1917, it also a story about love and sacrifice.

Aileen Rogers' Teddy

Aileen's father, Lawrence Browning Rogers served with the Fifth Canadian Mounted Rifles from 1915 to 1917. Lawrence wrote over two hundred letters to his wife, Janet May in that time. Both Aileen and her brother Howard also wrote to their father. These letters and the story of Teddy remained hidden until 2002 when Lawrence Rogers' granddaughter, Roberta Roberts Innes (Howard's daughter) discovered them in a family briefcase along with other memorabilia including Teddy. A Bear In War and a second book, Bear On The Homefront were written by Lawrence Roger's great-granddaughter, Stephanie Innes and children's author, Harry Endrulat.

The authors tell Aileen's family story from the point of view of Teddy, Aileen's new teddy bear. Teddy is kind and loyal. Aileen and Teddy's relationship is at once sweet and tender. She tells Teddy her secrets, the first being that she has had polio and has to wear a leg brace. Teddy responds, "That makes no difference to me."

Teddy immediately fits into the Rogers family, accompanying Aileen as she helps with dinner and chores on the farm.  Like Aileen, Teddy doesn't like war and he misses Daddy. Eventually after her father goes to war, Aileen and Teddy come up with the idea to send him to war as well, in the hopes that Teddy can protect her father.  Teddy and Aileen who have been a comfort to one another during this difficult time, decide to make their own sacrifice and send him overseas to France. During his time at war, Teddy tells young readers a bit about what it was like for soldiers during World War I.  "A lot of the time we sat in deep trenches. They were wet and cold -- and there were rats everywhere. But the trenches helped protect us from bullets and bombs....Sometimes we got hurt when a bomb exploded nearby. Sharp things would hit us." Sadly Aileen's father does not survive and is killed  while treating soldiers during the Battle of Passchendaele. Teddy survives the war and eventually is returned to the Rogers family. His own secret is "that I fought in the war in the pocket of a hero."

A Bear In War captures the uncertainty, fear and loss experienced by the families of soldiers during the long years of the Great War - a war that was supposed to end war but ended up being a continuous blood bath. Aileen's story is very much enhanced by Brian Deine's oil painting illustrations done in soft tones that accent the warmth of Aileen and Teddy's friendship, and how friendship can help carry us through tough times.

A Bear In War is an excellent picture book that offers children a gentle introduction what life was like during the early part of the 20th century, about how families coped during wartime and what life as a soldier was like.  Teddy is the teddy bear we all imagined having when we were children.

Teddy image: https://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/objects-and-photos/art-and-culture/toys-and-models/teddy-bear/


Book Details:

A Bear In War by Stephanie Innes and Harry Endrulat
Toronto: Key Porter Books Limited      2008

The Eleventh Hour by Jacques Goldstyn

Jim and Jules were born on the same day, in the same town. Except Jules was born two minutes after Jim. They became best friends, having similar interests. But Jim being faster and stronger was always ahead of Jules in everything they did. Jim watched out for Jules who looked up to him.

When World War I began in 1914, both Jim and Jules enlisted. But as always, Jules was two minutes late for everything. Two minutes behind Jim to get his uniform, in training and even to to catch the boat over to the war. It was those two minutes however that have a lasting effect on both their lives.

Discussion

Jacques Goldstyn delivers a poignant tale about two friends, one of whom dies just before the Armistice comes into effect on November 11, 1918. Goldstyn is a renowned illustrator whose career was born out of a request to illustrate a children's science book. At the time he was working as a geologist!

The Eleventh Hour was written in memory of George Lawrence Price, who is generally considered to be the last Canadian soldier to die on November 11, 1918. Price was conscripted into the army on October 15, 1917. He had fought in several important battles including the Battle of Amiens and he also had been gassed.  Price was killed in Mons, Belgium.

George Lawrence Price

Price who was part of  "A" Company the 28th Battalion of the Saskatchewn North West Regiment, decided to search houses in Ville Sur-Haine, which is located near Mons. Although the Canadian Corps had received notification that the war would indeed end at 11 a.m. that day, this was not communicated to Price's unit.  He was one of five soldiers involved in the search, going from house to house. The first house was searched, with the Germans fleeing through the back door but as they checked the second house, Price stepped outside and was shot in the chest, falling into the arms of  Pvt. Art Goodmurphy. He died minutes later at 10:58 a.m, despite the efforts of his comrades to save him.

Like  George Lawrence Price, Jim also dies two minutes before the Armistice goes into effect. A devastated Jules, who survived because he was always two minutes behind Jim, returns to Canada and tries to pick up life after the war. However, without his best friend Jim to lead him, Jules soon discovers a huge hole in his life. One thing Jules does do is to honour his friend's sacrifice  by attending the ceremonies at the local cenotaph on November 11.

Goldstyn's book is dedicated to his grandfather, Michel Quelever who did survive the First World War, physically uninjured. The Eleventh Hour is illustrated with Goldstyn's signature cartoon-style ink and watercolour drawings which effectively capture the depths of the friendship between the two boys and the horror and chaos of war. The Eleventh Hour is a longer picture book which portrays the sacrifice made by Canadian soldiers in World War I.


For more information about George Lawrence Price.

The Canadian Virtual War Memorial Page.

Book Details:

The Eleventh Hour by Jacques Goldstyn
Toronto: Owlkids Books Inc.      2018

The Button War: A Tale of the Great War by Avi

It is August 1914. Patryk is one of seven boys who form a group in a small village in Poland, which at this time, is occupied by the Russians. On this late summer day the boys are hanging out at the old ruins in the forest. The group consists of  Makary, a small boy who is the fastest runner, Raclaw whose father is the village lawyer able to speak Polish, Russian and German, Jurek a boy who is caned often at school and who insists he is a descendant of King Boleslaw, Wojtex who is the chubby son of the village butcher, Drugi who is the smallest, a frail boy always trying to understand things and Ulryk who wants to be a priest.

Jurek believes the ruins are those of an old castle belonging to Poland's first king, King Boleslaw the Brave. He claims to be the descendant of this ancient Polish king and that he owns both the ruins and the surrounding forest. However, the boys mostly think this is a joke. Jurek is the leader of the group, the one who thinks up new things for them to do and who is always daring them. Jurek lives with his eighteen-year-old sister in a one-room shack on the edge of the village. His sister washes the uniforms of the occupying Russians and in this way supports them as their parents are both dead.

Patryk is more fortunate as he lives with his parents in a three-room wooden house with a main room that serves as his parent's bedroom, a kitchen and at the back, his father's workshop. Patryk's father is "a wheelwright repairing and making wooden wagon wheels." Patryk is learning this trade from his father.

One day Patryk finds a small rusty button near the castle ruins. Jurek wants the button and tries to get Patryk to give it to him. When he refuses, Jurek becomes enraged, screaming and threatening Patryk with a large stick. Patryk holds his ground and then tosses the button into the forest. He is shocked by the hatred he sees in Jurek's face.

Later in August, as Patryk is going to school he witnesses the bombing of the old wooden school house by the Germans. It burns to the ground, killing the school teacher and a nine-year-old boy named Cyril. Makary wants to know why the war has come to their tiny village. The boys tell him that although the village is in Poland it has belonged to Russia.

Raclaw reveals that his father was told by the Russian commandant Dmitrov that they are leaving the village because the Germans are advancing. Meanwhile Jurek and Patryk take Raclaw to Jurek's backyard where he too cuts a button off a Russian uniform hanging on the clothesline. Jurek claims that his button with the knight fighting the dragon is the best.

The three boys leave for home but Patryk, wanting to get a Russian button like Jurek's and realizing that with the Russians leaving this might be his only chance, sneaks back to Jurek's house. He steals a button, one that is exactly the same as Jurek's.

The next morning the seven boys watch from the village water pump as the Russians march out of the village.They discuss the withdrawal of the Russians and the coming of the Germans. Jurek brags about his button but when he sees that Patryk has the same button, he becomes enraged and then announces his dare. "Wait! Got a great idea! We'll have a contest! Whoever gets the best button wins. Winner gets to be king. Means everyone has to bow down to him. Best dare ever. Buttons." Jurek insists that they cannot ask for a button but must "get" one.

Shortly after this the German's bomb the retreating Russians. Jurek leads the boys out of the village, to where the bombing happened, and they find many dead Russian soldiers. Jurek determined to find a winning button, climbs into a bomb crater. All the boys follow him but Patryk who is disgusted. This doesn't resolve the button challenge however, and Jurek tells the other boys they must wait until the Germans arrive to get better buttons.

Back in the village the boys decide to scavenge through the ruins of the school house. Ulryk uncovers their late teacher, Mr. Szujski's wooden cane that he used to beat the students with. Jurek snatches the cane away from Ulyrk, insisting that the boy who wins the button dare - the button king - should have the cane. He promptly strikes Drugi hard on the arm. Remembering Jurek's anger in the forest, Patryk knows he cannot let Jurek win the cane or the button dare. "Knowing that if Jurek won the cane, he would use it in the worse way -- as he just had. And that told me that I absolutely couldn't let Jurek be the button king. He'd go crazy."

Patryk's worst fears are realized in ways not even he could have imagined, as the button dare escalates and pushes the boys into the most dangerous of situations.

Discussion

Avi whose real name is Edward Irving Wortiss is the author of many acclaimed children's and teen novels. Like many of the best stories, The Button War had its germ in a story Avi was told by his father years ago. On Avi's website he explains his father's story:
"The story he told was rather unusual. He was raised in a village somewhere in Eastern Europe, but with so many national boundary changes, he could not even say precisely which country. During World War One, he said, his village was invaded and taken over by now this army, now that, from different nations. When these armies took over his village, the soldiers commandeered the women to wash their uniforms. Once washed, the uniforms were hung out to dry. The boys in the village—so my father-in-law related—would sneak about, cut the buttons from the uniforms, collect them, and trade them amongst themselves. This in the midst of The Great War."

As Avi explains, the button dare, which escalates, becoming both increasingly reckless and violent, mimics the escalating conflict that was to become the Great War. The boys begin by stealing buttons from Jurek's sister's clothesline, but are soon retrieving buttons from dead soldiers. From this they quickly move to following the soldiers and eventually even becoming involved in the conflict. The consequences are terrible.Their desire to collect buttons knows no bounds and directly results in the deaths of several of the boys; Drugi is beaten to death by an Austrian soldier for attempting to steal a button and Wojtex is executed for having a Russian button because the German's believe he is a traitor. Jurek's desire to obtain the best button leads him to become involved with the Russians helping them to set up the ambush of German soldiers which results in Raclaw being seriously wounded. As the boys are either killed or drop out, the contest becomes one between Jurek and Patryk.

Through the character of Patryk, Avi demonstrates how its possible to lose sight of what is right and be drawn further into a conflict. While many of the boys are eager at first to partake in Jurek's dare, only Patryk seems to understand the consequences should Jurek win.Patryk was the biggest and the strongest of the boys. His father tells him that God made him this way "to help the weak." Mindful of this, Patryk stays in the dare to try to win because he knows that Jurek will treat the other boys in a brutal manner if he becomes the button king. However, fighting on Jurek's terms doesn't help, as Patryk discovers, because Jurek keeps changing the conditions of the dare. As long as Patryk continues to play by Jurek's rules, he loses and becomes more and more like Jurek and is drawn in deeper. Just as Jurek does, Patryk desecrates the dead by stealing buttons from them and he steals from the living. He risks his life several times, all for buttons. He just can't seem to quit and walk away.

It is actually Ulryk, the boy who wants to be a Catholic priest, who does the right thing. He goes to Father Stanislaw, confesses and then throws his buttons in the river. When Patryk tells him that if he leaves, Jurek will be king, Ulryk, responds, "Not for me." and walks away. Even after Makary is killed by Jurek, Patryk still doesn't give up. He still intends to beat Jurek but the war intervenes. It doesn't stop Jurek who will now kill anyone to win. Finally Patryk does what Ulryk did - he throws the one button he still has away in disgust and runs out of the village to find his parents.

All of this is an allegory for the madness of the Great War where countries fought for four years over small patches of mud-filled, cratered, blackened land for no reason and where men were executed for desertion or bullied into enlisting. Even when it was obvious that no one was winning and that millions of lives,both soldiers and civilians were being lost, no one country would call a truce and end the war. Like the boys in the button war, the leaders of countries involved in World War I lost sight of what they were fighting for and why they were fighting and if they should even continue to fight the war.

The Button War, reminiscent of William Golding's Lord of the Flies, is a dark, tragic novel. It is well written, with realistic characters and a well-created setting that portrays life in a village caught in the middle of a war.

Book Details:

The Button War: A Tale of the Great War by Avi
Somerville, Massachusetts:  Candlewick Press     2018
229 pp.

DVD: The Promise

The Promise is a fictional account of the systematic extermination of the Armenian Christian population undertaken by the Ottoman Empire during World War I. This event has become known as the Armenian Genocide. The movie, directed by George Kelly was made partly to bring attention to this war crime which has never been acknowledged by many Western countries nor by Turkey.

The story begins on the eve of World War I in 1914, in the vast Ottoman Turk Empire. The story is narrated by Michael Boghosian whose family have been apothecaries in the village of Siroun, Southern Turkey for two hundred years. They have served both Christians and Muslims.

Micheal wanted to study medicine at the Imperial School of Medicine in Constantinople but could not afford the fees. He became engaged to Maral and it was decided that he would use the money from her dowry to go to medical school and then return to Siroun to marry her.

At the engagement party, Maral's father Harut gives Michael four hundred gold coins and tells him to make them proud. Michael's father, Vartan gives him a letter for his Uncle Mesrob who lives in Constantinople. Michael tells Maral that he will do the three years of medical studies in two years.

Michael travels to Constantinople where he meets Mesrob, his wife Lena and their two daughters, Yeva and Tamar. He also meets Ana Khesarian, daughter of a famous violinist who is tutor to the Boghosian children. At medical school, Michael meets a Turk, Emre Ogan who is not really interested in medicine but had to choose between it and the military. That Emre is not suited for the medical profession is shown when he faints during a dissection.

Ana and Chris Myers

After class one day Michael meets Ana while she is teaching Yeva and Tamar. He finds her delightful. At a club, Ana introduces Michael and Emre to her friend and lover, Christopher Myers, who immediately recognizes Emre as a playboy who frequents opium dens.Emre tells Michael and Ana that he and Chris know one another from Paris when his father was Deputy Consul and that Chris is a renowned reporter for Associated Press. Chris warns that war is coming to Turkey. At the end of the evening Emre begs them to come to his birthday party that Sunday at Ciragan Palace.

At the party, German warships fire a salute, scaring many who are in attendance. Chris confronts the Germans in attendance, resulting in Emre's father stating that Turkey has every right to have a strong navy to protect its borders. Chris counters that the Turks want to expand their borders and declare war on the infidels - the British, French and Russians. When the German's break out in singing the national anthem, Chris reminds Michael, that  the Armenians are the resident "infidels" and will be the first to be attacked.

Michael attempts to register for a medical school exemption.

On October 29, 1914, Turkey enters World War I on the side of Germany. Immediately all men are enlisted. At the medical school, Michael learns he will not be given a medical school exemption and he is assigned to the third military division while Emre, a Turk is given one. Emre saves Michael by bribing the official to produce the exemption. But this bribe has not gone unnoticed. At the same time Chris sets out to investigate what is happening in Konya. Before he leaves, Chris tells Ana he will obtain an American visa for her but she refuses his help.

Meanwhile Emre is confronted by his father who questions him about the exemption given to Michael Boghosian. Dr. Nazim does not accept Emre's explanation that Michael is a friend, telling him the Armenians are a tumour on the nation that must be removed.  Michael returns to Mesrob's home where he is made an offer by his uncle to buy him out of his betrothal to Ana. Michael refuses stating he has made a promise that he intends to honour.

Chris's investigations reveal that Armenian villages are being burned to the ground and men are being hanged. He also discovers hundreds of people being marched into the desert and witnesses a woman being shot in front of a small child. Meanwhile in Constantinople, things begin deteriorating. After returning from a concert at the cathedral Ana and Michael barely escape from raging Turks who destroy Armenian shops and beat Armenian citizens in the streets. At this time, Mesrob is arrested, leaving Lena alone with their daughters.

During this night, Michael and Ana become intimately involved. The next day they visit Lena and learn that Mesrob has been taken to Sikedji Prison where he is being investigated for treason. Michael takes the remaining gold from his dowry and he and Emre attempt to bribe the Turks at the prison to release Mesrob. Instead, they take his gold and Michael is arrested while Emre is forced by his father to enlist in the military.

What Chris has feared has come to pass - the Armenians are being slaughtered by the Turks, who are determined to rid themselves of infidels. Determined to reveal to the world what is happening Chris contacts American Ambassador Morgenthau. Chris becomes determined to save the woman he loves and as many of the Armenians as possible. He will barely escape with his own life while most of those he has come to love will not be so fortunate.


Discussion

The Promise is a moving tribute to the 1.5 million Armenian Christians who were systematically murdered during World War I by the Turk government. Although there had been previous massacres, for example the Hamidian massacres in the late 1800's by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, international pressure had been brought to bear to stop these massacres. This was not the case in 1915. Instead, western governments dallied when confronted by what was happening, at the expense of millions of lives.

Wonderful performances are given by Oscar Isaac who plays Michael Boghosian, as well as Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale who portray Ana Khesarian and Chris Myers respectively. A strong cast of secondary characters,  Marta (Shohreh Aghdashloo), Emre Ogan ( Marwan Kenzari ) and Faruk Pasha (Tamer Hassan) round out the cast.

French helping Armenians onto French warship at Musa Dagh.

Breathtaking cinematography provides a film of stark contrasts. There is the incredible beauty of the Turkish countryside juxtaposed with the horrors of the genocide. Scenes of Armenian Christians being marched into the desert, of whole villages of Armenian Christians shot and bayoneted, of the rounding up and brutalization of Armenian men, of the work camps, and of rail cars packed with Armenian women and children are in sharp contrast to the picturesque villages and the peaceful forests. The happy lives of the Armenians as they live peacefully with their Muslim neighbours and the beautiful Christian service with Father Komitas is in contrast to the Muslim crowd rampaging through the Constantinople destroying businesses, beating and arresting Armenians. 

The movie's final scenes portray the attack on over four thousand Armenians at Musa Dagh and their rescue by the French. Chris, Michael, Yeva and Ana  are among those making their way to the shore along with other survivors. In fact, on September 12, 1915, the French Navy rescued more than four thousand trapped and unarmed Armenians from Musa Dagh mountain.

The obfuscation of Turkish officials when questioned is very effectively portrayed, particularly in the scene where Ambassador Morgenthau confronts Turkish officials. Not all Turks are portrayed badly; Emre Ogan loses his life for helping save the life of his friend Chris Myers and the Deputy Consul warns Pastor Merrill at the American mission that Faruk Pasha will spare no one and they should leave at once.

Unfortunately, the development of a love triangle involving Michael, Chris and Ana detracts from the main focus of the film. The Armenian Genocide is such a significant human story it doesn't require a plot device like a love triangle to engage viewers. Where the film succeeds is in portraying the humanity of the Armenians who love, marry and have children while the world around them goes to hell. Overall though, The Promise mostly succeeds in portraying a significant event of the 20th century and one in which the term "genocide" was first used to describe the systematic killing of a race of people. It is hoped that more films will be made to educate people on a genocide the much of the world still refuse to acknowledge.

Movie: Wonder Woman

The new Wonder Woman movie, directed by Patty Jenkins is probably the best DC comic character movie to date. It has an amazing badass super-heroine, a reasonable storyline and is jam-packed with thrilling fight and action scenes to hook viewers.

Jenkins is a fan of the origin story and that's where her movie begins. A young Diana born to Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons is growing up on the Island of Themyscira which is hidden from the human world. Young Diana is determined to train like the other Amazon warriors but she is discouraged by her mother. Queen Hippolyta.

Her mother tells her that the god Zeus created mankind who lived happily and peacefully with one another. However, Zeus's brother Ares, the god of war, hated men. He stirred up discontent and anger among men which caused wars. Ares slew all of the other gods when they attempted to kill him. Zeus, using the last of his powers, attempted to stop Ares but only wounded him. Before he died, Zeus left mankind a secret weapon, the Godkiller, The Amazon's lived on the Island of Themyscira which was protected from the outside world by a special  believe the Godkiller is a sword. Queen Hippolyta will not allow her sister, General Antiope to train Diana, however, the two begin training in secret. When they are discovered Antiope convinces Queen Hippolyta to allow her training to continue.

One day when Diana is a young woman, she sees a plane crash into the sea. Realizing that there is someone drowning, she dives off the cliffs into the sea and rescues the pilot. That pilot is Steve Trevor. Trevor has almost no time to catch his breath before the island is attacked by the Germans who have been chasing him. The Amazon's rush to the beach and engage the Germans in a battle to the death. They slay all the Germans but General Antiope is killed saving Diana.

Trevor is taken by the Amazons and questioned using the Lasso of Truth. He reveals that he is an American spy working for British intelligence and that there is a horrible war happening in the outside world, the Great War, a "war to end all wars" that is never-ending. Trevor tells the Amazons that he has stolen the notebook of a scientist, Dr. Maru, who has created a terrible new poison gas. Maru is under the direction of General Ludendorff who believes this gas is the key to Germany winning the war. Maru and Ludendorff must be stopped as the Britain and Germany are in the process of negotiating an armistice. Trevor needs to get back to England so he can give the notebook to his superiors.

Diana believes that Ludendorff is Ares and she sets out with Trevor to return to England. At first she does not have Queen Hippolyta's permission but Diana stands up to her mother and tells her she cannot stand by while innocent people are being killed. She takes the sword and sails for England.

As Diana and Steve work to stop Ludendorff and Dr. Maru and end the war, the must face the dangers of No Mans Land and treachery from an unexpected traitor who is revealed to be the real Ares.

Discussion

Wonder Woman is by far the best DC Comics movie to date. There's a good storyline focusing on the origin of Wonder Woman, a solid cast and epic battle scenes. But more than that DC portrays a superhero who offers something more than just brute strength. Former Israeli soldier and Miss Israel, Gal Gadot shines as Diana who is Wonder Woman. The movie opens with the origin story of Wonder Woman and goes on to tell how a young, naive  Diana comes to be the greatest female warrior - Wonder Woman.  Patty Jenkins, the movie's director has unabashedly stated that she had a particular vision of what Wonder Woman would look like:
 “I, as a woman, want Wonder Woman to be hot as hell, fight badass, and look great at the same time — the same way men want Superman to have huge pecs and an impractically big body. That makes them feel like the hero they want to be. And my hero, in my head, has really long legs.”

Wonder Woman offers a different kind of female hero, one with a more authentic feminism that is aligned with the reality of woman. It is a feminism that is based on strength, independence, courage and compassion. Wonder Woman is a superhero who shows that women can offer the world something else besides physical strength and brute force; compassion, courage in the face of terrible odds and truth. When told why the land between the German and Allies front lines is called "No Man's Land" , Diana remains undeterred. She will attack and move the battle forward.  When advised to abandon the German-occupied village of Veld, Diana is moved by compassion and determined to free them. When goaded by Ares to view humans as corrupted and to help him destroy mankind, Diana not only resists but destroys her half-brother. She refuses to kill the villainous Dr. Maru, remembering the words of Steve. She is the very opposite of Ares, offering mankind not war but peace. In this we have a very different kind of superhero. Patty Jenkins describes how Wonder Woman is different from the male superheroes:

"The thing about 'Wonder Woman,' which is very feminine and definitely different, is that her objective is to bring love and truth to mankind. It's not to stop any specific villain and it's not to fight and it's not to stop crime. She'll do all of those things in such a bad-ass way you can't believe it to defend you. And so it's an interesting other thing that brings that moral perspective into it."

The Wonder Woman character was created by William Moulton Marston in 1940. The comic book world at that time had only male superheros. This superhero was to be different because sh would conquer using love and truth. Marston who was a psychologist felt that women did not find their role in society as appealing because their feminine characteristics of love, compassion and truth were seen as weaknesses. So Marston set out to create a character who had these strengths but was also beautiful and powerful. Marston who lived in an open relationship with his wife Elizabeth and another woman Olive, based Wonder Woman mostly on Olive.

In a nod to Marston, the movie draws from his original 1940's comics but also the revised comics by George Perez published in the 1980s. It ties Wonder Woman into the overall DC universe in various ways. For example Diana receives a photograph of herself with Steve Trevor from Bruce Wayne, aka Batman. Several of the costumes, that of Ares and Dr. Maru are replicates of those from earlier editions of the Wonder Woman comics.

Wonder Woman is an enjoyable action movie, with epic battle and fight scenes, beautiful cinematography and solid performances by many of the cast. Chris Pine as Steve Trevor is a realistic love interest for Diana showing the young goddess superhero that humans have some redeemable qualities. He sacrifices his life to destroy Ludendorff's poison gas plane and demonstrates that humans are capable of doing good deeds.

There is some sexual innuendo in the first third of the movie, demonstrating Diana's isolation from the world of men but not portraying her as ignorant, and likely more for comic relief. There is also a frontal nudity shot - from a distance of actor Chris Pine. Not really necessary but Hollywood seems to think it so. It's unfortunate because many young teen girls might be interested in seeing this movie but will be exposed to this unnecessary nudity that has really nothing to do with the storyline and is merely gratuitous.