Customer Reviews

Axe-Time/Sword Time

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is about a girl named Ellen and how she deals with a mental disability and family problems in American during the World War II era. Ellen was hit in the head with a golf ball as a child so her ability to read and write had been severely damaged. As her friends and brother are leaving for college, Ellen is stuck at her high school in a post-graduate year. As the book continues, Ellen learns to make her own decisions and that she can make a difference. After her brother and many of the boys she knew from high school join the many braches of the military, Ellen decides that she wants to help aide in the war effort. Plane spotting is just one of the ways she feels that she helps to make a difference. In the end, Ellen learns that doing what other people, especially her mother, expect of her isn't always right. She also learns that her disability doesn't mean that she can't make a difference.
This relates to the essential question, "What does it mean to be a patriot?" This is because in the book Ellen, although faced with many family problems, learns to think for herself and get a job. Also during a time of war, she pursues her patriotic duty and gets a job with the navy. She also volunteers as a plane spotter. Ellen, in the story, worked hard at everything she did, and was willing to help support her country, which is what I think it means to be a patriot.