Homefront [Hardcover]

Doris Gwaltney (Author)

Book Description

For as long as Margaret Ann Motley can remember, she has been waiting and hoping for one thing -- a room to call her very own. And when Margaret's older sister leaves for college, it looks like Margaret's days of waiting are over. But then disaster strikes. Its form: an English cousin named Courtney who has been forced to flee 1941 London because of the blitz. Not at all concerned with what's happening in Europe, Margaret Ann is soon fighting a war of her own as she watches her cousin Courtney get not only her room, but also the attention of her very own family and boyfriend. It's not until Margaret's only brother enlists in the navy that Margaret discovers an ally and a friend where at first she saw only a rival.

Poet and novelist Doris Gwaltney has crafted a detailed, spirited, sometimes humorous, and always deeply felt novel about two girls coming of age and becoming friends in the shadow of the biggest war in modern history.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 6-8–To Margaret Ann Motley and her family, World War II seems very far away from Wight County, VA, until Aunt Mary Lee and her daughter are forced to flee England. Margaret Ann and her cousin Courtney, both 12, don't hit it off, and, to make matters worse, Courtney wins Grandma Motley's heart and Margaret Ann's boyfriend and is pampered by the rest of the family. The war comes even closer to home when Pearl Harbor is bombed. Elizabeth Motley and her fiancé decide to marry before he leaves for the army, and her brother enlists in the navy. The strain of waiting to hear from loved ones, of getting good news and bad, rationing, and the loss of farm help as men go off to fight are all intertwined with the events of everyday life as Margaret Ann tries to get along in her family, win back her boyfriend, and outwit her cousin. The characters are superbly delineated. Margaret Ann, the quintessential adolescent at the beginning of the book, morphs into a much more mature person. Courtney is lonely and scared, which she covers up by being obnoxious. She has the sly, sweet voice of a girl who knows how to get her own way while sticking it to her rival. The other family members and close friends receive the same careful characterization. This perceptive novel focuses on how war affects the people who are left at home–their fears, dreams, hardships, and, above all, hopes.–Nancy P. Reeder, Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, Columbia, SC
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 5-8. As Margaret Ann Motley looks forward to seventh grade, the only changes she sees on the horizon are her sister's leaving for college and, immediately afterwards, moving out of her grandmother's bedroom and into her sister's old room. With the U.S. on the brink of World War II, though, greater changes are in store for the Motleys, from the arrival of an aunt and cousin from war-battered England to the marriages, births, and deaths that will alter the tight-knit family forever. Gwaltney provides vivid character portrayals, particularly of the strong-willed and increasingly out-of-touch grandmother, and of Margaret Ann, who can barely contain her pain and rage when her live-in English cousin not only achieves instant popularity in their school class but also attracts Margaret Ann's boyfriend. Well grounded in the Tidewater area of Virginia, the novel's social context is made real through the steady rhythm of the family farm, the town-and-country hierarchy at school, and the values and expectations of three generations of characters. The story continues throughout the war, showing how a variety of hardships on the home front impinge on the family. For readers who can look beyond the rather static, nostalgic jacket art, this novel provides a rewarding experience. Pair this book with Patricia Reilly Giff's Lily's Crossing (1997) and Avi's Don't You Know There's a War On? (2001). Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers; First Edition edition (June 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689868421
• ISBN-13: 978-0689868429
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,391,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Homefront, June 24, 2006

By 

Martha Bennett Stiles (Paris, KY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homefront (Hardcover)

Doris Gwaltney has written a thorough and imaginative portrait of a Virginia farm family during World War II. Through the gradually maturing eyes of its teen-aged narrator, we see how war both constrained and expanded their lives. People who in normal times might have lived and died knowing only the same places and families their parents and grandparents had known, find themselves forming close connections with strangers from distant places, or travel themselves to distant places, some of them never to return.
"Homefront" is peopled by distinct, believable characters soldiering through a time that randomly enriched and devastated, a time that Ms Gwaltney obviously knows intimately. Her book is a service to those who remember that time, and to those who have no idea.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Home, where my love lies waiting silently for me, September 19, 2006

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Homefront (Hardcover)

You know what I always liked about Anne of Green Gables? Her ability to stay suspended in a kind of self-righteous anger. There was something about her complete focus on how she had been wronged that spoke to me as a child. When you're a kid there's nothing more important than getting a fair shake. Injustice has no place in the world when your little sister has gotten a larger slice of cake or your brother was allowed to go to the local park on his own and you weren't. The author that can tap into that vein of fury and pump it for all it's worth is the author worth your time and money. Now Doris Gwaltney is a newcomer to the world of children's fiction, and I want you all to give her a big kiddie lit welcome. "Homefront" may look at first like one of the many small Southern town WWII novels out there this year, but reading it reveals a title that pounds with the heightened emotions of the pre-adolescent. Know a fan of Anne of Green Gables? Well the similarities between that book and this don't stop with the tone, my friend.

Look, Margaret Ann has every reason in the world to be upset here, okay? I mean, see it from her point of view. It's 1941 and you've been waiting your whole entire life to get a room of your own. Finally your sister goes off to college, you move in, and not a month later you're kicked out once again. And why? Because your "perfect" gorgeous English cousin who everybody in the entire world loves except for you has taken your place. Sure, she's a refugee of the Blitz, but why does she have to be so evil? She's taken your boyfriend. She's taken your best friend. She's taken your spot next to your dad at the table. And did I mention she took your room? Now you're sleeping with Grandma (who snores) again, America's entered WWII, and the next thing you know your sister's married, your brother's enlisted, and you're involved in a war of your own with perfect little Courtney. Well? Wouldn't you be upset? Set in the rural Southern farmland, Gwaltney's story follows Margaret Ann as she and her cousin find a way to go from hostile to accepting, though it might take death and tragedy to bring them together.

Death and tragedy. That makes it sound a bit bleak, doesn't it? Actually, that's misleading. There are good things that happen in this book and there are bad things that happen in this book. Doesn't mean that the story exists without a sense of humor. What this story is able to do is capture characters and situations in such a way that they leap off the page with zazz and zing. So what did I like about the book? I just loved how seriously upset Margaret Ann could get at the injustice of the world. I couldn't NOT look at her point of view! As a character, she has such a strong sense of self and storytelling (the book is told entirely in the first person) that she's able to convince you of her own continual martyrdom at the hands of her cousin. About the time Margaret Ann's sometimes boyfriend gives away her birthday present of a puppy to Courtney instead I found myself almost inexplicably with tears of frustration in my own eyes. How dare he!

But the remarkable thing about the book is that the author really does manage to convince you that a character can go from despising her cousin to coming around and actually liking her. Remarkable! Personally, I wasn't wholly convinced that that "like" would become the adoration it eventually morphs into, but simply being able to display personal growth in a children's book like this is no small feat. Now as a character, Margaret Ann goes from a brazen type who hurts people, "simply because they don't know they can do it" to someone who's a little less self-absorbed. The danger with this is that she could have ended up dull. It's a very real concern. I keep comparing the book to Anne of Green Gables because I think it has that same feel of a classic. However, even the Anne books weren't immune to turning their heroine into a middle of the road type of character as the series progressed. To some extent I agreed with Grandma in this book when she disapproved of the change in her granddaughter. I wanted to keep Margaret Ann as feisty as ever. Still, while feisty people are fun to read about, you wouldn't actually want to have to live with one 24/7. And since this book is about Margaret Ann's personal growth, I guess the reader has to let go of early Margaret Ann in favor of the later (but still amusing) version. Hrm.

Oh. And the writing is good as well. It didn't feel very Southern to me, but maybe that's because I've never lived in the South. I did like phrases like, "you have two little sisters who would nibble the world if it was set before them" that would crop up occasionally in the text. Plus Gwaltney manages, in the course of this book, to take you through the entire Second World War, which is a feat that few authors ever bother with. For example, I think Graham Salisbury's been slooowly telling his epic tale that began with "Under a Blood Red Sun" over the course of several decades. Usually an author will get as far as Germany surrendering and leave it at that. Not Ms. Gwaltney. She plunges in headfirst and nothing but the surrender of Japan is going to end the story. Nothing ever really felt anachronistic either. I found myself vaguely surprised when Margaret Ann would refer to "Japs" (it wasn't often) or listen to her father's/America's justification for dropping the bomb on Japan. Smart people should pair this book with another 2006 book, "Weedflower" by Cynthia Kadohata for an alternate point of view.

I've a co-worker (also a children's librarian) who said that as a child this was exactly the kind of book she would have gravitated towards. I wouldn't have, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have loved it once I got into it. Besides, if we were giving out awards for the best opening line of the novel, "Homecoming" just might have to win my vote. I'll leave you with it, as a perfect taste of what the story is like. Like it says, "You can love a person and not really enjoy their company." Fortunately, I both loved this book and enjoyed its company fully. Worth discovering.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended!!!!, July 13, 2010

By 

Matthew D Thomas (Carrollton, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Homefront (Paperback)

The first line of HOMEFRONT hooked me, but what rocketed me through the book were the characters. The plot, the setting, the pacing - all were good, but the characters were great, especially the main character Margaret, whose "voice" was thoroughly realistic, engaging, and oh so colorful. Gwaltney uses the backdrop of WWII to mature Margaret, but does so with a subtle and deft touch, letting the character grow and develop in front of the reader's eyes at a realistic pace. The supporting characters are equally delightful, especially (for me at least) Margaret's grandmother, a holier-than-thou matriarch who is the perfect foil for her headstrong granddaughter. The thing that really struck me about HOMEFRONT is that although Gwaltney focuses very narrowly on a single, rural county in Virginia, I was left with the feeling that her story was an accurate portrayal of what living through WWII anywhere in the United States would have been like, giving me, who is too young to have experienced the war, a much greater sense of what it was like to live through such a terrible time. This book might be YA, but it's written so well that anyone from the age of 10 to 100 would enjoy it and I can't recommend it highly enough.