| Booktalk
#1
Theresa's life has been a lot
different since her brother went into the military to fight in World War
II. Many things on the homefront are different. There are shortages
of just about everything. In school, paper is scarce and children
use what they can to do their assignments. Clothes are patched and
reworked -- never just thrown away. Theresa's father's bootery is
doing well since people can only resole their shoes, not buy new ones.
And now food is being rationed as well. All over the country, people
are starting to plant their own vegetable gardens to supplement what food
is available. These gardens are encouraged so that farmers can send
their vegetables to other places in the world in hopes of ending the war
sooner. The Victory Gardens are important in many other ways as well.
Find out what happens when a group of children help a neighbor in The
Victory Garden.
Booktalk #2
In 1943, many Americans are
growing victory gardens to help provide food for their families. In a small
Kansas town, young Teresa Marks joins in this war effort by organizing
her classmates to tend and harvest the vegetables in Mr. Burt’s garden
after he is hurt in a tractor accident. Meanwhile, Teresa and the class
bully finally reconcile their differences and a friendship slowly develops.
Lively dialogue and interesting details keep the action moving in this
historical fiction novel. (Sunshine
State Young Reader’s Award Program, 2004-2005) |
