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WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE

Name: WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE
Author: Ellen Emerson White
ISBN: 0-439-14889-8

THE DIARY OF MOLLY MACKENZIE FLAHERTY

by Ellen Emerson White ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2001

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This ersatz diary, in the Dear America series, belongs to Molly MacKenzie Flaherty, a 15-year-old Boston high-school student during the Vietnam War. Molly’s brother Patrick (The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, p. 744) has volunteered to serve in the Marines and the family finds itself in the center of the morass that marked the war: nightly death totals, growing anti-war feelings, deaths of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and the frustrating doublespeak of politicians. Molly’s large Catholic family lives in Brighton, where a number of her male relatives are firefighters. The heroism of the soldiers is juxtaposed with the heroism of her relatives as they fight fires in the city, even a fire started by rioters following the death of Martin Luther King. The four-and-a-half months that Molly chronicles are unbelievably busy ones. Molly attends her first high-school parties, watches the silly sitcoms that blare from all those new color televisions, meets peace protesters in Harvard Square, nurses her father back to health after one more terrible evening of firefighting, reads the surprising book her mother has given her (The Feminine Mystique), finds a volunteer job at the VA hospital working with amputees fresh from Vietnam, waits for news of Patrick following his injury, and eventually helps him return to civilian life. This is more like a vehicle for the author’s research than a diary. Readers of this popular series might not mind the pure volume of historical details, amazing coincidences, and overblown writing style, but they will certainly question the supposed age of the writer. However, very few stories of stateside siblings of soldiers exist and this might inspire some readers to think about life at home during the Vietnam War. A lengthy historical note with photographs follows the fictional diary. (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: June 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-439-14889-8

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2002

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
A SEASON OF DARING GREATLY
by Ellen Emerson White

- BOOK REVIEW
WEBSTER
by Ellen Emerson White

- BOOK REVIEW
SANTA PAWS
by Ellen Emerson White & illustrated by Robert J. Blake

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THE BLETCHLEY RIDDLE

by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 8, 2024

A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates.

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Siblings decode familial and wartime secrets in 1940 England.

Headstrong 14-year-old Lizzie Novis refuses to believe that her mother, a U.S. embassy clerk who was working in Poland, is dead. After fleeing from her grandmother—who’s attempting to bring her back to America—Lizzie locates her 19-year-old brother, Jakob, a Cambridge mathematician who’s stationed at the clandestine British intelligence site called Bletchley Park. Hiding from her grandmother’s estate steward, Lizzie becomes a messenger at Bletchley Park, ferrying letters across the grounds while Jakob attempts to both break the ciphers generated by the German Enigma machines and help his sister face the reality of their mother’s likely fate. With a suspicious MI5 agent inquiring about Mum and clues and codes piling up, the siblings, whose late father was “Polish Jewish British,” eventually decipher the truth. Shared narrative duties between the siblings effectively juxtapose the measured Jakob with the spirited Lizzie. Lizzie’s directness is repeatedly attributed to her being “half American,” which proves tiresome, but Jakob’s development from reserved to risk-tolerant provides welcome nuance. The authors introduce and carefully explain a variety of decoding methodologies, inspiring readers to attempt their own. A thoughtful and entertaining historical note identifies the key figures who appear in the book, such as Alan Turing, as well as the real-life bases for the fictional characters. Interspersed photos and images of ephemera help situate the narrative’s time period.

A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates. (Historical mystery. 10-14)