The Victory Garden
(Ages 8-12)
Delacorte Press, 2002
A young girl's conflicted feelings
about
World War II, friendship, and
hope
surface
during an unforgettable
summer.
The Victory Garden was master listed for
the following awards:
Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award
2004-2005
Indiana Young Hoosier Award 2004-2005
Kansas William Allen White Children's Book
Award 2004-2005
Missouri Mark Twain Award 2004-2005
Pennsylvania Keystone to Reading Book Award
2003-2004
Listed in the Virginia Center for Books Best Bets for the Classroom 2002
QUOTES FROM REVIEWS
"WW II at home has always been a rich setting for children's historical fiction. . . and this fine first novel continues the tradition of domestic drama framed by global crisis." — Booklist Review
Told in a child's voice with lively dialogue and occasional letters, this novel offers a fresh picture of the home front." — School Library Journal
"How [the kids] manage to work together and cope with the anxieties about brothers and fathers at war make a fine story. It's enriched by a realistic parallel plot about the class bully and how he grows, too." — Denver Post & Rocky Mountain News
"Teresa slowly comes to understand. . . where she fits into her town and the overall war effort. . . . This is a slice-of-small-town-life book whose warmth shines through." — InfoDad.com
"Teresa learns a lot about life and gardening in this superb story of war efforts at home during World War II." — Boston Herald
WHAT READERS SAY
"I liked the part best when Scott's mom gave the Young Sprouts something at the Tomato Duel." — Keidra, 5th grader
"I read the book and then went out back and started my own victory garden." — Abby, 5th grader
"I want to be Jeff and fly that plane!" — Jay, 4th grader
"In the pages are history, family, friendship, devotion, loyalty, and patriotism. . . the kind of book I loved as a child and love passing down to my children." — Beth, a mother
"I read The Victory Garden with a historian's eye and found it more than coincidental that the tale is set in the middle of World War II and in Kansas, the geographical middle of America. The centrality of time and place tells us, I think, that the story is universal." — A history professor
"I liked the 'messages'—people are shaped by their experiences, there's a good side to every person, people need each other to help them through tough times, you can make things happen, girls are strong and smart." — Julie, a young teacher
"I'm not just going to give this book to my grandchildren. I'm going to sit and read it with them." — Rusty, a grandmother