Eyes Like Willy's [Library Binding]

Juanita Havill (Author), David Johnson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

It's the summer of , and Guy and Sarah Masson have traveled with their parents from Paris to a small resort village on Lake Constance, in Austria. What Guy thinks will be an ordinary vacation is transformed into one of discovery and delight when he and Sarah meet a ten-year-old Austrian boy, Willy Schiller. They swim and race their model sailboats in the lake, fight mock duels as knights through the woods, and play chess in their rooms when it rains, while Guy and Sarah plot how Willy can come back to Paris with them in the fall. The three become inseparable that first summer, and each year thereafter their friendship grows -- until the summer of . Suddenly the world is at war, and these best of friends find themselves on opposing sides.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9–Childhood friends are separated by tragic world events in this thoughtful World War I tale. Guy and Sarah live in Paris and vacation with their parents in Austria in the summer of 1906. There they make a fast friend in Willy, who is Austrian. The three children become inseparable and spend every summer vacation together. However, as Europe is drawn into the political turmoil leading to World War I, Guy and Willy, now young men, find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. Both become soldiers and fight for their countries, hoping to be reunited as friends someday. The story is told from Guy's point of view, from his childhood with Willy to his experiences as a soldier in the trenches. It follows a natural progression from the three characters' youthful innocence to a more mature, worldly wise voice. The pacing is quick and the depiction of war is not glossed over, but realistic and honest. The writing is spare; every word counts. Pair this memorable story with Theresa Breslin's Remembrance (2002) and Iain Lawrence's Lord of the Nutcracker Men (2003, both Delacorte) for different viewpoints of the era.–Kristen Oravec, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Strongsville, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. In 1906, 10-year-old Guy's family leaves Paris to vacation in a small Austrian village, where he befriends a Viennese boy named Willy. Meeting every summer for several years, Guy and his sister, Sarah, grow closer to their friend, though over the years the boys' interests shift from sailing model boats to building a glider to flirting with the village girls. In 1914, war puts an end to the family's vacations, and in 1915, Guy joins the army, painfully aware that Willy may be in the opposite trenches. Havill's narrative flows through the years so quickly and records Guy's, Sarah's, and Willy's stories so matter-of-factly that readers may be taken unawares by the slowly building emotional power of this short novel. The story's extended time frame might hinder the book from finding its audience: a 10-year-old protagonist may put off older readers, and younger ones may not relate to Guy as a shell-shocked soldier in a sanitarium. Still, this spare, thoughtful story does a superb job of personalizing the pain of this brutal, futile war. One of the few novels for young people set during World War I, the book ends with an author's note providing background information as well as lists of books, films, and Internet sites. For other books on the subject, see the "Read-alikes: The War to End All Wars" [BKL N 1 01]. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Library Binding: 144 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688136737
• ISBN-13: 978-0688136734
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,846,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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