Nancy Bo FloodCritiques

World War, 1939-1945

FROM AMAZON: A tender and gripping novel about family, identity, and loss.

Fourteen-year-old Tess is having a hard enough time understanding what it means to be part white and part Navajo, but now she's coping with her sister Gaby's announcement that she's going to enlist and fight in the Iraq war. Gaby's decision comes just weeks after the news that Lori Piestewa, a member of their community, is the first Native American woman in US history to die in combat, adding to Tess's stress and emotions. While Gaby is away, Tess reluctantly cares for her sister's semi-wild stallion, Blue, who will teach Tess how to deal with tragic loss and guide her own journey of self-discovery.

Lori Piestewa was a real-life soldier who was killed in Iraq and was a member of the Hopi tribe. Back matter includes further information about Piestewa as well as a note by author Nancy Bo Flood detailing her experiences living on the Navajo reservation. A pronunciation guide to all Navajo vocabulary used within the text is also included.

A girl in a wheelchair who can only move her head, arms and fingers, longs to dance and feel the movements of other dancers. Her mother brings her to a class for dancers of all abilities. There the girl meets dancers with canes, crutches and bare feet. She soon discovers the joy and unity of dance. The rhythm of the prose expresses the free movement of an improvisational dance.

Tears of joy. This is an extra special book of inspiration and perseverance. Eva is born prematurely, has cerebral palsy and is wheelchair bound. She wants to dance. She doesn't know how or what it would look like, but she wants to dance, period. An alternative dance company invites all dancer of any ability level to come dance! Eva finds people like her to dance with at this unlikely place.

Joyful look at an important organization that helps children with physical disabilities to dance and perform.

"I will dance" is a very inspiring book about a young girl who can't move but has the dream of being a dancer.

I Will Dance is a glowing and inspiring story of a little girl with a dream to dance. The young girl has severe disabilities and is wheelchair bound with limited mobility in nearly all limbs, but she wants to dance. One day her mother finds an advertisement about a dance class for people with all abilities. That's when everything changed. This story is full of beautiful illustrations and inspiring words. The little girl does not give up despite what people tell her. It teaches perseverance, courage, and the importance of dreaming. This is definitely a book I would recommend to any and all!

Warriors in the Crossfire by Nancy Bo Flood is a YA novel about World War II as the Japanese and the Americans are battling across the many islands of the Pacific. The natives of these islands were caught in the crossfire between these armies and many were slaughtered. These islands in the Western Pacific were important as the Americans could launch air strikes from them directly at Japan.

The story is of Joseph a twelve year old islander. He and his family have been living under Japanese occupation for a number of years by 1944. The Japanese changed the natives way of life. They weren’t allowed to take their boats out onto the ocean and fish, they were forced into manual labour either in the cane fields or repairing the runways at the airport. When the Americans started their bombing prior to their landing, the natives were on their own to survive as best they could. When it became obvious that the Japanese were not going to win, they gathered as many people as they could and forced them to leap off the cliffs to their death. Joseph’s father and brother-in-law are taken by the Japanese as forced labour so it is up to Joseph to get his family to the caves and then keep them safe.

This story about the indigenous people who were caught up in the battles between the Japanese and the American armies is quite short and being a YA novel, it doesn’t go into the depth I would have liked. These natives had their way of life destroyed and their homeland devastated by the meeting of these two massive forces. Warriors in the Crossfire gives the reader a glimpse of this little known perspective on World War II as seen through the eyes of a twelve year old.½

This is the story about Tess, a half white, half Native American middle school student who lives on with her Native American relatives and goes to school with white students. Her sister, Gaby, was always there for her to help her with her problems. Gaby enlisted in the military and was sent overseas. Tess has to learn to get by without her sister and take care of her sister's horse whom Gaby does not trust. This is a good story, but a little predictable.

Poems express the anticipation, excitement and thrills of watching and participating in the rodeo, while narrative on opposing pages describes the different types of events such as bulldogging and bullriding. An intriguing introduction for city kids and an affirmation for mutton busters. Color photographs capture the dusty action and fan glee.

A fun mix of poetry and information about the Navajo rodeo. Illustrated with great color photographs.

Although a YA book, quite good. The poems at the beginning of each chapter were very poignant and brought a lot of texture to the story. So sad. The islands can never be the same after being gutted by war.

Beginning with Ghąąjį' (October), Nancy Bo Flood explores the Navajo year in this picture-book published by Salina Bookshelf, a small independent press in Arizona that specializes in books devoted to the Navajo language and culture. Their catalogue includes bilingual picture-books such as Dzání Yázhí Naazbaa': Little Woman Warrior Who Came Home: A Story of the Navajo Long Walk and The Stone Cutter and the Navajo Maiden: Tsé Yitsidí dóó Ch'ikééh Bitsédaashjéé', as well as textbooks like Diné Bizaad Bínáhoo’aah: Rediscovering the Navajo Language.

The Navajo Year, Walk Through Many Seasons is not really bilingual, although the Navajo word for each month is used (with in depth instructions regarding pronunciation at the rear of the book). It does, however, give a detailed look at traditional Navajo activities during the course of the tear, from winter storytelling sessions with Grandfather during Níłch'ih Ts'ósí (November) to summertime powwows and rodeos during Ya'iishjáásh Tsoh (July). The accompanying illustrations by Navajo artist Billy Whitethorne (Nancy Bo Flood is not Navajo), although not precisely my "cup of tea," are colorful and attention-grabbing. Recommended to young readers with an interest in Navajo language and culture.

Would be an interesting complement to Terry Prachett's "Nation" - which our grade 6 students read. Island, traumatic events, two young people from opposing cultures, survival, death & religion, etc. Unlike "Nation" this is quite short - and based on historical event (Saipan in WWII).

Excellent historical fiction about a little-known conflict from World War II.

A sensitve, poignant novella about cultural identity that adeptly captures the nuances of family dynamics.

Read the Australia section, which is why we picked it up in the first place. Cool myths and storytelling, though the textbook style bolder words were distracting.

When the fighting of WWII reaches the strategic island of Saipan, it falls to 12-year-old Joseph to help his family survive. The war exposes a rift between Joseph and his best friend and cousin, Kento. While Kento's mother and Joseph's mother are sisters from one of the local tribes, Kento's father is Japanese. Should Joseph trust Kento once the fighting begins? Which ties are stronger for Kento – family or nation?

This coming of age novel explores themes of war, family, friendship, loyalty, courage, fear, and grief. The point of view of the non-Japanese, non-American inhabitants of a Pacific island is probably unfamiliar to many readers. Each chapter opens with a short free verse poem, adding an emotional dimension to the story. The novel could be used as supplemental reading for a study of the Pacific Theater in World War II. Recommended for middle school age and up.

Flood, N.B. (2010). Warriors in the Crossfire. Honesdale, PA: Front Street.

9781590786611

141 Pages.

Appetizer: Joseph, his family and his tribe live on the island of Saipan in 1944. The island has already been under the control of the Japanese for the duration of the war, and many of the tribe's freedoms stripped away. As the American forces grow close, the Japanese military's presence also increases, taking the last vestiges of freedom and replacing it with the certainty that the island will be bombed.

When Joseph's father is forced to leave to do manual labor for the Japanese, it falls to Joseph to lead his family to safety in the island caves, despite the fact that the rest of the islanders don't think anyone will be safe there.

As you can probably guess, this book is a laugh riot.

But seriously, there are a few moments of brevity, mixed in among the many tensions between the natives and the japanese, boyhood and manhood, loyalty and betrayal, imprisonment and freedom. It's a lot to take on. And Nancy Bo Flood manages to do so with a lot of poetic language.

Flood does a stunning job of describing the setting. Her writing helped me to picture the island, but still left me wanting more. As a teacher, if I used this book in a social studies classroom, I would be sure to try to include some photos of Saipan (in the 1940s and now--Flood notes that the island is now home to many hotels and resorts) to support and really bring home the setting and sorrows of the story. However, when taking on such a project, while I would of incorporate this photo, and this one, I might leave this one out, depending upon the messages I wanted to share with young impressionable minds.

As I read more and more, I found that while the book was a mere 140 pages, and a relatively quick read, I still had to take some breaks from some of the content. While there's nothing that is graphically upsetting, Joseph has to deal with a lot of tough emotional realities, fears and responsibilities in a time and place that is often ignored by the standard issue history textbooks, making this an important but also intense read.

Dinner Conversation:

"They're coming. Get down. Now!" I stared into the darkness at the black curved beach. Soldiers should not have been patrolling so early. The last group usually finished their round at midnight. Waves lapped against the wet sand. Palm fonds clattered. I heard the sounds of hard leather military boots stomping across loose coral and rock" (p. 9).

"We flew up, over the outer edge of the reef, and were free. Free of the rules, the restrictions, the always watching, patrolling soldiers. The Japanese may have taken our stores, our schools, even our lands, but they could not take this. Not the ocean" (p. 14).

"The new Japanese rules forbade us--any native--to use a canoe or fish outside the lagoon. We were all suspected of being spies, of sending information to the American military. We were not allowed to have a radio--none--in the entire village. No newspapers. Nothing printed. Each week brought new restrictions, earlier curfews, more arrests" (p. 25).

"The cave is up there. As soon as I am certain no one has followed us, we will climb to it."
"I don't understand--"
"Remember the turtle. Joseph. When the shark smells blood, he attacks. The turtle pulls in his head, waits...survives. Joseph, survive. Bring our family here" (p. 59).

Tasty Rating: !!!

I thought to myself when I started reading this. What is this story about. It starts out with Sophie's dream. She was dreaming about three gravestones by a fence. Her mother was calling her from downstairs.

There this big family secret. Sophie blame herself for her mama premature labor. For her mama had loss lots of babies. The new baby is Sophie new living sibling. You could tell their was some secret that the adult were trying to cover up and not tell her. Her Aunt Rae act strange to Sophie though out the book. If you want to find out what this secret is I suggest you read the book. For I am not tell you any spoilers. I thought that Aunt Rae was a bitter woman and could not believe what see did to her niece Sophie.

Several chapter were all about chores and watch the baby. I understand that they were to be Italian-American. Sophie is like the first or second generation to be born in america. You would think that her grandmother, Aunt, Papa, Mamma would teach her about her homeland. Though some Italian word were metion though out book here and there.

I will tell you this I though it was one I could put down and leave down. I though okay what on tv and glance it and then I turn my nook off for bit and turned back on. I would not recommend this book. It was not my cup of tea though that does not mean it was a bad book or anything to do with the author who wrote. It just was not my cup of tea. I will a good read.. I though though to myself a few questions though I can not remember I was thinking when though questions came.

Author: Nancy Bo Flood
Published by: namelos IIc
Age Recommend: 14+
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Raven Rating: 4
Blog Review For: GMTA
Review:

"No-Name Baby" by Nancy Bo Flood was a very good read.The novel is of a teenager (Sophie) who was a Italian immigrant from Illinois after World War I. Sophie thought she had caused her mother to go into premature labour, since her mom had lost other babies...that was greatly on her mind. Then there was a aunt(Rae)... that seemed to cause great tension between her(Sophia). Just what was going on would soon be understood. Her aunt Rae tells Sophia of her bea (Alessandro). He had left for the War and he never came back .... he was shot down.... buried in Italy.

The author really brings out the characters with all of the work..doing chores, watching the baby, dealing with that Aunt Rae,seeing if her mom, Nonna, and her dad needed anything and
then there was the boy (Karl) next door. And then the big incident in the Orchard... What had happened between Sophia and her aunt Rae? This is where you will have to pick up this good read to find out just what is going on.

There was the Family Bible that held everything that Sophia needed to know about her family... but where was her name? Was she a bastard child? Just who was her mother? After much explanation being given ...everything comes out and this secret unfolds.

"No-Name Baby" was indeed a wonderful story how Sophia was able to finally understand the situation of just what had gone on in her life. Sophia was very mature young lady and all I can say is .... Wow! .. what a story! Sophia now knew the secret about her family.

I would definitely recommend this as a good for a YA read.

Sophie's pregnant mother falls and goes into premature labor. With the help of Aunt Rae and her grandmother, the baby is safely delivered however Sophie's mother is weak and on death's door. Sophie finds herself returning to the row of gravestone where three non-name babies are buried, her mother's previous three miscarriages.

I thought the book a bit heavy for teenagers and a bit simple for adults. I thought it was extremely well written and engaging. Sophie is very relatable and your heart goes out to her family. Overall, not a bad read.

Flood, Nancy Bo. (2010). Warriors in the Crossfire. Ashville, NC: Front Street Books. 142 pp. ISBN 978-1-59078-661-1 (Hard Cover); $17.95.

Joseph and his family have lived on Saipan longer than either the Japanese or the Americans. However, both the Japanese and Americans will kill Joseph and his family if they are not very careful.

American students often think of the war between the Japanese and the United States during WWII in very simple, US vs. THEM, terms. However these islands are home to people who are neither American nor Japanese and who share a history with both Americans and Japanese. These people have been ravaged, burned, killed, and, perhaps worse, largely forgotten by both sides. In a well-researched book that features language attempting to capture the rhythm and cadence of a culture, we feel the loss and isolation and confusion of a people who quickly realize that their survival will depend on luck and their own superior knowledge of their homeland. Both Americans and Japanese are equally likely to kill them. This book shows us the culture of the Carolinian and Chomorro people AND the major historical facts of the defeat of the Japanese in Saipan. The significance of this book combined with a poetic and absorbing story make this a book well worth adding to high school and middle school libraries.

What happens when war breaks out and you find yourself and your country caught in the middle between two warring nations? This book is based on actual historical events. The characters are made up. The setting was unfamiliar to me which is great. It meant research to learn more about the island of Saipan. Joseph lives on this island which has fallen under Japanese control The Japanese encroach on these native people believing many of them are spies for the Americans. Joseph is instructed by his father to hide the people in a cave so that they may survive. A tough decision but one he follows. No child should have to witness the atrocities of war like Joseph has, yet we know that children present and past live this life all the time. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time. It is also a book that I will recommend to our history teachers.