Mare's War

Review

Common Sense Media says

Unique African-American woman's WWII experience.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that there's an intense scene where Mare fights her mother's boyfriend; there is also some drinking of hard alcohol. The racist treatment of African-Americans during this time period is offensive (but historically accurate). Mare is an admirable, but by no means perfect, character.

  • Educational value3
    Explores the often-overlooked role of African-American women in WWII.
  • Positive messages3
    Mare is a devoted older sister, always trying to protect her younger sibling. Mare runs away from home, lies about her age, and joins the Women's Army. Mare lets Octavia drive, even though she is not old enough to have a permit. Mare faces segregation and discrimination in the Army, with "Whites Only" signs. Mare faces her fears and sticks with her training even when it's difficult. She overcomes her pride and agrees to lessons on speaking proper English. Mare's mother refuses to write her. Mare's husband cheats on her and she leaves him.
  • Positive role models3
    Mare is an admirable, but by no means perfect, character.
  • Violence3
    When her mother's drunken boyfriend comes into the girls' bedroom (with a suggestion that he wants to molest her younger sister), Mare fights him with a hatchet. He dislocates her shoulder and pounds her head against a wall until their mother fires a shotgun and scares him off. Men get into a fight over racist comments. One man says, "We strung up a big ugly nigra like you back home." Mare trains for war duty and spends time in England, where bombs drop.
  • Sex0
    Mare's aunt tells her younger sister that "the army has you girls there to keep the men happy." She also says to "watch out for certain kinds of mannish girls up there." Women go on dates. Tali tells Mare to "check out the hottie" in tight black jeans. 
  • Language3
    Some of the Army women use disparaging terms for people of other nationalities, including "Japs," "dagos," and "Krauts." A racist man calls an African-American Red Cross worker a "boy," "coon," and "uppity nigra."
  • Consumerism0
    Mare and her friends use some of their wages to buy clothes and toiletries. Mare pays for the girls to buy souvenirs at every stop along the drive.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking3
    Mare's mother drinks whiskey. Mare eats "tipsy cake" soaked in sour mash whiskey and drinks a fruit drink with gin. As an adult, Mare smokes cigarettes. Tali orders a Kahlua and cream, arguing that it contains as much alcohol as vanilla. (She gets in trouble for it.)
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What's the story?

Fifteen-year-old Octavia and her 17-year-old sister Tali must drive across the country with their stiletto shoes-wearing, cigarette-smoking grandmother, who insists they call her by her first name, Mare. Neither teen is happy about it, but both are slowly drawn into Mare's stories about her own youth, when she ran away from her poor Alabama home at 16 and joined the Women's Army Corps. In alternating chapters, the narration switches from their road trip to Mare's first-person account of her time in training and then in service overseas with an African American WAC unit.

Is it any good?

 

Teens might relate more to Octavia and Tali, but Mare's story is the more compelling as she transforms from a poor farm girl to buff soldier. Her African-American WAC experiences highlight a rarely seen side of World War II, inspired by the author's research into her own grandmother's life. Davis keeps the history personal and fresh with Mare's strong voice.

The contrast between the whiny, spoiled contemporary teens and their hard-working grandmother is often jarring; readers may find themselves skimming the "now" chapters to reach the next "then."

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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about segregation and the treatment of African-Americans before the Civil Rights movement.

  • Octavia and Tali have never heard about African-American women serving
    in the military before; what does this say about how American history
    is taught in school?

  • Mare says, "Talking about segregation isn't as
    nice and neat as talking about being the 'greatest generation' that won
    the war. For some folks, it's just stirring up bad memories." Do you
    agree?

This review was written by Stephanie Dunnewind

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This review was written by Stephanie Dunnewind
Author:Tanita Davis
Book type:Fiction
Genre:Historical Fiction
Publisher:Knopf
Publication date:June 9, 2009
Number of pages:346
Hardcover price:$16.99
Publisher's recommended age(s):12 - 16
Read aloud:11
Read alone:12
This review was written by Stephanie Dunnewind
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
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