Dove Song [Hardcover]

Kamil Vojnar (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

When eleven-year-old Bobbie Lynn's father is reported missing in action in Vietnam, she and her thirteen-year-old brother must learn to cope with their own despair, as well as their mother's breakdown.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-As army brats, 11-year-old Bobbie Lynn and her 13-year-old brother Mason have coped with unexpected moves and their mother's "delicate spells" before, but things get much worse when their father is sent to Vietnam. When their mother takes the children from Texas to Tacoma, WA, only Wendy Feeney offers the girl friendship. Bobbie Lynn is frightened, at first, by Wendy's severely retarded twin sister, skeptical of her new friend's deep belief in guardian angels, and puzzled by Mrs. Feeney's opposition to violence. When her father is reported missing in action, her severely depressed mother does nothing but sleep, leaving the children to scrounge for food, forge notes to their teachers, and, ultimately, to spoon-feed her. Only when Bobbie Lynn develops pneumonia does she reach out for the help they desperately need, only to discover that there really are angels all around, human angels, able and willing to give her family support. Franklin convincingly portrays attitudes of the late 1960s; the confusion and disagreement over the war; the Feeney family's open, uncomplicated Catholicism; and the fear and shame associated with handicaps of all kinds. This is both a sensitive story of friendship and family problems and solid historical fiction, especially for those who enjoyed reading about an earlier wartime in Mary Hahn's Stepping on the Cracks (Clarion, 1991) or Patricia Giff's Lily's Crossing (Delacorte, 1997).
Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Two young people take on more than they can handle in this anguished, reflective story set on the homefront during the Vietnam War. The news that their father is missing in action horrifies Bobbie Lynn and her brother, Mason, but sends their dependent mother spiraling into a breakdown far worse than any of her previous spells; after a violent outburst, she takes to her bed, smoking, crying, and rarely eating. While the children struggle to maintain an appearance of normality, scramble for money, and care for their mother, Bobbie Lynn meets Wendy, a fiery, perceptive classmate and her brain-damaged twin sister, who are part of a lively, welcoming family. Despite Mason's conviction that they're on their own, Bobbie Lynn is driven to call for help, and support arrives speedily from several directions. Laced with tears and searching internal questions, Bobbie Lynn's narrative takes on an intensity of feeling that will engage readers, though next to such stories of dysfunctional families as Jackie French Koller's A Place To Call Home (1995), or Patricia Martin's Travels With Rainie Marie (1997) the characters and story line is sketchy. Franklin (Eclipse, 1995, etc.) comes up with a pat resolution, including the revelation that Bobbie Lynn's father is alive, and ties up loose ends in a way that is not fully credible. (Fiction. 10-13) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; 1 edition (August 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763604097
• ISBN-13: 978-0763604097
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,345,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Read!, April 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dove Song (Hardcover)

This is such a moving book I couldn't put it down! the characters and situation get the reader tied in and leave you craving for more. I would suggest this story to anyone interested in the Vietnam War and it's effects on family members of soldiers. Actually, I think anyone could get hooked on this one! A definite must!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well written in detail, July 26, 2000

By 

"meeko_87" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dove Song (Hardcover)

It a book that shows a story of just how strong the bond between siblings can be and how friendships can blossom when you least expect them. Bobbie Lynn's father is sent to vietnam and so her mother moves her and her brother Mason to be near him on his base on the other side of America before he leaves and it is here that Bobbie Lynn meets Wendy. None of the other girls like Wendy, but Bobbie Lynn finds her self befriended with the girl unafraid to hoot like a dove and dance around the play ground all the while laughing, but when her father is found missing in action her mother reactes much differently then she had ever acted before and it takes her bond with her brother Mason and the comfort of her friendship to learn what the difference between asking and not asking for help can mean. Short as it is, it is filled with a wonderful story anybody can relate to in some way.

4.0 out of 5 stars Ambers review on Dove Song, February 11, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Dove Song (Hardcover)

Daddy is leaving for Vietnam to help as a mechanic. Hes being shipped overseas. So they decide to move so they would be closer to him, but daddy just got upset about it because he thought we should stay close to family in case of dire need. But that just made mama mad because she didn't get along with the family. The next morning daddy left. Bobbie went to school the next day, and found out everyone was mean besides one girl. On the second day of school she met the girl, her name was Wendy. She invited her over after school, but she said she didn't know. At recess she taught her how to whistle with her thumbs. When she got home there was no one home, so she decided to go ahead, and go over to Wendy's house. They whistled, and the doves came,and they had a great time. She left, and went home, and that is when every thing went down hill. Her brother told her they had just found out about her daddy, and MIA.