Levine, Beth. Dear America: When Christmas Comes Again. NY: Scholastic, 2002. 168 pages. (Historical Fiction)
This book was about a girl named Simone Spencer who lives in New York City with her mom who she calls “maman”, her dad who she calls “papa”, and her brother Will, who will soon go to war. There are also some other characters in the book: Sam (who she falls in love with), Alice (a friend), and Francie (a friend from New York). The story takes place in 1917-1919, in New York City and the Western Front (Paris and France) in World War I. Shortly after Simone’s brother went to war, Simone decided that she too wanted to go. She began talking with her parents who finally decided to let her go. Before she went to war, her friend Francie gave her an angel she saw in an antique store they went shopping at. Simone really liked that angel and was so happy to get it. While on her way to the war, she was hoping to see her brother. When she got there, she worked as a switchboard operator. She was known as the “hello girls” by the soldiers. I loved this book so much. It was hard for me to put it down. I love books about history because they are interesting and are fun to learn from. I really recommend it to anybody because it was a GREAT book and was funny and fun to read. It had some sad parts, but it turns out to have a happy ending. In the back of the book, there is a story of what the family did and what they moved on to become. There is also a true story of World War I. In the book there are pictures of New York City from 1917 through 1919.
Reviewed by: ChickenNoodleSoup23
