The Dragonfly Pool

Author: Eva Ibbotson

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books

Publication Year: 2008

Most of the readers will be: Late elementary and middle school girls.

Reader's advisory: For a more advanced book that takes a look at another aspect of World War II try Code Talker: a novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac.

Summary:
Fearing that London will soon be bombed by the Germans, Tally's father sends her to a boarding school in rural Devon. Tally doesn't want to live away from her father and aunts and he doesn't make enough to pay tuition, but Tally has been offered a scholarship.
Tally learns all about boarding school from her rich cousins who have been going for years. She thinks she understands about the uniforms and dorm parties, only to find, upon arriving at Delderton, that there are no uniforms and every student has their own room. This school is quite unique.
Tally grows to like Delderton very much and her friends think so highly of her that they allow her to talk them into preparing a folk dance for a festival they have been invited to in Bergania. Bergania has been standing up to Germany and Tally believes Delderton should show their support of the small nation. But things get complicated while they are there. The king of Bergania is killed and the Deldertonions sneak his son, Karil, out of the country.
Tally has done her part to save Karil's life, but can she save his spirit? He has been forced to live with his grandfather in London and act like a prince should. But he wants to be with his friends in Delderton. He wants to choose his own future.

My favorite passage:

Daley folded up the letter and looked round at the meeting.
'It's quite an honour to be asked. As I say, I shall of course turn it down but-'
'Why?'
The clear voice carried to all parts of the hall. Julia grasped her friend's arm, trying to quieten her but without success. The peppermint disappeared down Tally's throat.
'Why?' she said again. 'Why would you refuse?'
She had forgotten that she was not going to speak again. One word had leaped out at her from the letter that Daley read.
'Bergania' - it was more than two weeks since she had seen the travelogue, yet she found she could remember the film in detail. She could see the snowy mountain range with the central jagged peak, and the fir trees running up the slope towards them. She could see the river and the spire of the church where St Aurelia was buried, and the palace. She could see the proud king on his horse and, as clearly as if she was there, the young prince in his troublesome helmet trying to blow the plumes out of his eyes.
'Why can't we send anybody?' said Tally yet again. 'The King of Bergania is very brave; he said no to Hitler.'
'Because,' said the headmaster patiently, 'we have never done folk dancing here at Delderton and it is less than a month till the festival. And there are other reasons.'
'Just because we've never done it doesn't mean we can't do it. There's probably a book about it; there's a book about everything. It must be very difficult to stand up to Hitler. It wasn't just that he said no about letting the troops go through his country, but he also won't let Hitler dig up minerals in his mountains to use for armaments. And I know people like Tod think there should be kings, but if there are and they're brave and resolute then surely we should show them that we're on their side.'
'I don't see how it would help the Berganians if we went and did folk dancing all over them,' said one of the senior girls, 'especially when we haven't any idea how to do it.'
'It's to do with just being there,' said Tally. 'They invited us so they must want us to come, and refusing would be a snub.'
She looked round the room for support but no one seemed ready to back her up. Even her own friends were silent.
'Folk dancing's silly,' said a boy with huge spectacles. 'People wind ribbons round a pole and get tangled up.'
'Or they wear idiotic clothes - trousers with bells on them and bobbles on their hats,' said Ronald Peabody.
'Only sissies do folk dancing,' came Verity's disdainful voice.
'Really?' The deep voice came from the back of the hall. Matteo had appeared to be asleep. 'You surprise me.' He uncoiled himself and moved forward to the centre of the room, and the children made way for him. 'You surprise me very much.'
Everybody fell silent, watching him as he turned and faced the meeting.
'You might of course call the Falanian Indians sissy. Certainly they do a folk dance before they dismember their enemies and nail them to trees. There are even bells - or rather gongs - involved, though not, if I recall, ribbons. It takes an Indian child five years to learn the steps, and they are not allowed to take part in it till they can crunch up the skull of a jaguar with their bare hands.
'And there are the leopard hunters of Nepal. They do a folk dance to prepare themselves for the chase, which includes leaping over pits of burning cinders with a firebrand in their mouth. The steps go something like this.'
And without any warning Matteo leaped high into the air, seemed almost to hang there and came down with a blood-curdling howl almost on top of David Prosser, who stepped back with an agitated squeak.
'I could give you more examples,' said Matteo, 'but I just wanted to make the point that whatever folk dancing is, it's not sissy.' (pg. 91-94)

What I really think:
I thought this book was delightful once I got into it. There is some history, some adventure, a spunky heroine.
The only thing I didn't like was the cover. It put me off and was one of the reasons it took me a little while to feel interested in the book. It is overly girly (especially the curly lettering) and gives the book a younger feel to it. There are several strong male characters in the book and it isn't for children who are new readers. Looking on the back flap I saw that at least two of the author's other books have very similar covers. Unfortunate.

Blood Red Snow White

Author: Marcus Sedgwick

Publisher: Orion Children's Books

Publication Year: 2007

Most of the readers will be: High school girls and boys.

Reader's advisory: For another book on Russia and British spies try Phoning a Dead Man by Gillian Cross.

Summary:
Arthur Ransome has fled to Russia to get away from his unhappy wife. He is a journalist reporting to the British people on Russia's war with Germany (Britain is at war with Germany, too) and later on the Russian revolution. Arthur wants to spend his time working on his books of Russian fairy tales and maybe visiting his girlfriend, Evgenia. But things are complicated.
Evgenia is Trotsky's secretary. And the British government wants to put the Tsar back in power. The Bolsheviks and the English would both love to use Arthur for their own ends. Can Arthur manouver his way through this difficult situation and create a fairy tale ending for himself and Evgenia?

My favorite passage:

Now, only a few trees ahead of him in the forest, stood two men deep in conversation. One was a Russian, the other a Jew, and they were firm friends, though they spent much of their time arguing.
They would argue about all sorts of things, but each would listen politely to what the other had to say. First, the Jew, whose name was Lev, would argue that the people of Russia should be its true masters, and while he did, the Russian, whose name was Vladimir, would stroke his small and excellent beard. Then they would swap, and Vladimir would argue that while what Lev had to say was true, they should not forget that people needed guidance from enlightened minds. And Lev would stroke his own small and excellent beard.
Then they'd each light a pipe, and have a good long smoke, while they thought what to argue about next. (pg 46)

What I really think:
I didn't look at this book very closely when I picked it up and expected it to be some kind of fairly tale adaptation. I was very surprised to discover that it was a historical fiction novel about the Russion revolution. But, I actually really enjoyed it. Sedwick masterfully weaves a fairy tale feel into the novel and has shed light on the real life of a man who went to Russia to write and was finally convinced to be a spy.