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87th out of 96 books
—
341 voters
Mare's War
by
Tanita S. Davis (Goodreads Author)
Meet Mare, a grandmother with flair and a fascinating past.
Octavia and Tali are dreading the road trip their parents are forcing them to take with their grandmother over the summer. After all, Mare isn’t your typical grandmother. She drives a red sports car, wears stiletto shoes, flippy wigs, and push-up bras, and insists that she’s too young to be called Grandma. But some...more
Octavia and Tali are dreading the road trip their parents are forcing them to take with their grandmother over the summer. After all, Mare isn’t your typical grandmother. She drives a red sports car, wears stiletto shoes, flippy wigs, and push-up bras, and insists that she’s too young to be called Grandma. But some...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
June 9th 2009
by Knopf Books for Young Readers
(first published May 29th 2009)
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Reviewed by Amber Gibson for TeensReadToo.com
Going on a road trip with their wacky grandmother, Mare, is not at all how either Octavia or Tali wants to spend their summer. However, at Mare's insistence, they reluctantly agree to accompany her all the way across the country for some mysterious family reunion in Alabama.
The girls don't know how they will survive all of this time cooped up together with each other and with Mare. Before they even leave the driveway, Mare is already driving Tali craz...more
Going on a road trip with their wacky grandmother, Mare, is not at all how either Octavia or Tali wants to spend their summer. However, at Mare's insistence, they reluctantly agree to accompany her all the way across the country for some mysterious family reunion in Alabama.
The girls don't know how they will survive all of this time cooped up together with each other and with Mare. Before they even leave the driveway, Mare is already driving Tali craz...more
Sep 11, 2011
Elizabeth
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
friends-wrote-these,
world-war-ii
So - another WWII novel - another Girl Book. This one is FANTASTIC. And you know what? It’s a Young Adult novel.
This is the story of a teen, Marey Lee Boylen, who joins the Women’s Army Corps and becomes one of the only group of American black women to be sent to Europe during the war. It’s framed as a road trip that Mare takes with her two teenaged granddaughters some 65 years later (ie, in the present day). So there’s a good amount of comparison between the journey of growth taken by all the y...more
This is the story of a teen, Marey Lee Boylen, who joins the Women’s Army Corps and becomes one of the only group of American black women to be sent to Europe during the war. It’s framed as a road trip that Mare takes with her two teenaged granddaughters some 65 years later (ie, in the present day). So there’s a good amount of comparison between the journey of growth taken by all the y...more
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Teenage sisters Octavia and Tali can’t believe it when they find out they have to drive all the way across the United States with their crazy Grandmother for a family reunion. She drives slow. She’s nosy. She’s bossy. She smokes. And her car smells funny.
But these are all the things they know about their Grandmother. What they haven’t thought about is all the years their Grandmother was alive before they were even born. What was she like then? What did she do?
Once they start rolling and find hou...more
But these are all the things they know about their Grandmother. What they haven’t thought about is all the years their Grandmother was alive before they were even born. What was she like then? What did she do?
Once they start rolling and find hou...more
Recap:
Octavia and Tali may not realize it yet, but Mare didn't used to be anybody's grandmother.
Spending the summer on a cross-country road trip in Mare's little red sports car should have made for the most boring summer of their lives. But both girls are in for a few surprises. Before this trip is over, Octavia and Tali are going to get a whole new perspective on their grandma, their own family, and their country.
Review:
Holy smokes, I could not have chosen a better book to kick off my BHM read...more
Octavia and Tali may not realize it yet, but Mare didn't used to be anybody's grandmother.
Spending the summer on a cross-country road trip in Mare's little red sports car should have made for the most boring summer of their lives. But both girls are in for a few surprises. Before this trip is over, Octavia and Tali are going to get a whole new perspective on their grandma, their own family, and their country.
Review:
Holy smokes, I could not have chosen a better book to kick off my BHM read...more
If a cross-country trek during summer vacation with grandma doesn’t sound interesting, guess again. In Tanita Davis’s novel Mare’s War, high school students (and sisters) Octavia and Tali embark on a road trip with their unconventional, stiletto-wearing grandmother, Mare, who reveals the story of the African Americans in the Women Army Corps during WWII. A captivating tale which seamlessly transitions between the past and present, Mare’s War reveals one of the lesser told stories of WWII, while...more
Driving across the county with their cigarette-smoking, fast-driving, very unconventional grandmother, Mare is the last way Octavia and Talitha Boylen want to spend their summer vacation. But as Mare begins to tell them about her childhood and the forces that drove her into the Women’s Army Corps during WWII, Octavia and Tali come to a deeper understanding of their grandmother and themselves.
Alternating chapters break the story down between “now” and “then”, but Mare’s story is where this book...more
Alternating chapters break the story down between “now” and “then”, but Mare’s story is where this book...more
I can sum up my feelings for this book thusly: Eh.
It's a light, easy read despite the occasionally heavy subject matter. However, the characterization didn't work for me. I didn't see the point in including snippets from the granddaughter's point of view. To me, they added nothing to the story and only distracted from the main narrative. Then, I grew bored quickly with the heroine because she doesn't change. She's a hardheaded take-charge person from the outset, and her army experience doesn't c...more
It's a light, easy read despite the occasionally heavy subject matter. However, the characterization didn't work for me. I didn't see the point in including snippets from the granddaughter's point of view. To me, they added nothing to the story and only distracted from the main narrative. Then, I grew bored quickly with the heroine because she doesn't change. She's a hardheaded take-charge person from the outset, and her army experience doesn't c...more
Octavia and Tali's parents make them take a road trip from their home in California to a reunion in Alabama, with their GRANDMOTHER. They try their best to get their parents to give up on this torturous summer activity, but to no avail. After all, Mare is over 80, drives a red coupe, smokes like a chimney and has a tale to tell. Mare was one of the first women to join the 688th African American Battalion of the Women's Army Corps. Mare's story is told in the "then" chapters, which alternate with...more
Mare's War will appeal to several audiences: teenage girls who will identify with Octavia and Tali who are dragged on a road trip with their 80-year-old grandmother, Mare; African Americans who will appreciate the example of a strong female character in the Army during WWII; and teachers in 6th-9th grade who can use this book as a supplement to African American studies.
I liked it because of how the author, Tanita Davis, wove history and character education lessons into Mare’s interaction with h...more
I liked it because of how the author, Tanita Davis, wove history and character education lessons into Mare’s interaction with h...more
Talitha and Octavia are not looking forward to their summer road trip with their grandmother. They are going to be traveling from California to Florida for a family reunion. Little do they know, but they are going to be also taking a trip back in time.
Their grandmother, Mare Boylen, decides to take the opportunity to share the story of what happened to her during World War II. While driving, Mare introduces Talitha and Octavia to a girl they never would have expected their grandmother to be.
In 1...more
Their grandmother, Mare Boylen, decides to take the opportunity to share the story of what happened to her during World War II. While driving, Mare introduces Talitha and Octavia to a girl they never would have expected their grandmother to be.
In 1...more
This is a fun book so far but I can’t find it to finish it. I was really liking it and then lost my ARC?!
Spitfire grandma that served in WWII takes 2 typical upper middle class American teens on a road trip and tells about the realities of her past. She covers things like racism (they are black), homophobia, rape, poverty, intense family dynamics, etc. The girls and the grandma all learn are all learning more about each other but in a realistic not "road trip movie" way. I specifically love how...more
Spitfire grandma that served in WWII takes 2 typical upper middle class American teens on a road trip and tells about the realities of her past. She covers things like racism (they are black), homophobia, rape, poverty, intense family dynamics, etc. The girls and the grandma all learn are all learning more about each other but in a realistic not "road trip movie" way. I specifically love how...more
When I saw this book, I thought it would be an interesting new perspective on WWII: a black woman serving in the Women's Army Corps (WAC). And while that part was interesting, it didn't have much depth to it. We didn't really feel the emotions Marey Lee should've experienced as a teen moving from backwater Alabama to basic training and across the Atlantic. Likewise, her fellow soldiers (of which there were many named, just enough to be difficult to keep track of) didn't move much beyond names ei...more
I read this book because I was leading a teen book discussion of Flygirl by Sherri Smith and I must say it's a great companion book. While Ida Mae Jones in Flygirl has to pass for white to join the WASP, the WACs had African-American units and they didn't stay stay side.
Mare's story of the WACs is embedded in a story of her, now an eccentric 80-year-old grandmother, going to Alabama for a reunion, but needing her granddaughters to help her drive. This is no Rules of the Road. They want to stay h...more
Mare's story of the WACs is embedded in a story of her, now an eccentric 80-year-old grandmother, going to Alabama for a reunion, but needing her granddaughters to help her drive. This is no Rules of the Road. They want to stay h...more
I went back & forth between giving this a 3 or a 4. In the end, I decided that the writing wasn't strong enough for a 3. It kind of made me wonder about the Coretta Scott King Award criteria, since this was the winner for text in 2010. It's a compelling story with a likeable heroine, and very good in the way the story moves from 1945 to 2009 (the heroine is going on a trip with her 2 granddaughters in present-day).
What I didn't like was how the author held back in sharing Mare's story after...more
What I didn't like was how the author held back in sharing Mare's story after...more
Not very often do you read a fiction book that teaches you historically accurate lessons that just beg for you to do some follow up research. This is one of those books.
Mare is an older woman with two young grand-daughters, Octavia and Tali, who seem to need a little bit of an education in what honor, courage, and strength is really about. Mare decides to take them on a cross-country trip to a secret reunion and along the way, she tells them about her past as a member of the only African-America...more
Mare is an older woman with two young grand-daughters, Octavia and Tali, who seem to need a little bit of an education in what honor, courage, and strength is really about. Mare decides to take them on a cross-country trip to a secret reunion and along the way, she tells them about her past as a member of the only African-America...more
In this novel, Octavia and Tali, two teenage sisters that spend more time arguing then talking, are sent on a road trip with their grandmother Mare. Now, Mare isn’t your stereotypical grandmother, she drives too fast, she smokes too much, and she dresses like she’s still in her 20’s. Octavia and Tali soon find, though, that there is a lot more to Mare then they had thought. The book is broken down into chapters told from Octavia’s perspective, little inserts of postcards that the girls send duri...more
This book is about a grandmother who decides to drive with her teenage granddaughters across the country to a family reunion. Her mission is to educate her granddaughters on how different their life is from her childhood, instill a sense of pride and understanding of their culture and hopefully even for their grandmother, Mare. Told in a tri-narrative style switching from 15 year old Octavia, 17 year old Tali, and an eccentric Mare who tells the girls of her time being a African American in the...more
Tali and Octavia set off on a road trip with their quirky grandmother, Mare. They are both quite unexcited to be spending their summer with her, but the road trip proves to be very enlightening for them. The chapters are labeled "Then" (Mare's story) and "Now" (Modern day). Mare tells the girls about her experiences as a black female in the segregated WAC (Women's Army Corp) during WWII. It provides a great amount of historical details. I never know about Claudette Colvin, a black woman who refu...more
Originally posted here.
How much do you know about African American women serving in the Women's Army Corp during World War II? Or really the Women's Army Corp in general? I'm not going to lie despite taking two classes on the second world war in college my knowledge of both is pretty slim. In Mare's War Tanita Davis has given us a peak inside this small part of the fighting force and woven it into a greater story of family and relationship.
The story is told in alternating points of view jumping...more
How much do you know about African American women serving in the Women's Army Corp during World War II? Or really the Women's Army Corp in general? I'm not going to lie despite taking two classes on the second world war in college my knowledge of both is pretty slim. In Mare's War Tanita Davis has given us a peak inside this small part of the fighting force and woven it into a greater story of family and relationship.
The story is told in alternating points of view jumping...more
This book is split into not-terribly-interesting "present day" chapters (which I mostly skimmed after awhile) and more detailed, more nuanced chapters set during WWII. The WWII story doesn't have any battles or heroic daring-do, although bombings and malnourished peasants give brief glimpses of life during war. Mainly, though, the book is focused on the personal growth of the 17-year-old protagonist, Marey, who lies about her age to join the WAC.
Through boot camp and the European Theater, Marey...more
Through boot camp and the European Theater, Marey...more
This book has two parts - two contemporary teenage sisters driving cross-country with their unpredictable grandmother (Mare), and the story of that grandmother's journey from rural country girl to a member of the African-American WAC regiment stationed overseas during WWII. I thought Mare's historical story was more engrossing than the contemporary frame, and was always eager to get back to what was happening to her - whether it was her strained relationship with her own mother or her experience...more
Octavia is dreading her summer vacation. Her parents are forcing her and her older sister Tali to take a road trip with their eccentric grandmother, Marey Lee Boylen, whom they call Mare. Octavia, Tali, and Mare start the trip already on each others' last nerve, but then Mare begins telling her granddaughters stories about how she ran away from home at seventeen, at the height of World War II, and joined the Women's Army Corps. Told in alternating viewpoints, with Octavia narrating in the presen...more
So, more like 2.75. I couldn't get engaged with it as I wished but if I were a teen, I'd have loved it. I felt with this one like I did with Laurie Halse Anderson's "Chains" -- not enough patience as an adult but one in which I'd be utterly captivated when I was younger.
That said, I felt Mare's narrative was SO much more interesting than the kids. I also found a few weird editing issues while reading - I'd see missing articles here and there (pressed to find one now, I can't!). Nothing big but e...more
That said, I felt Mare's narrative was SO much more interesting than the kids. I also found a few weird editing issues while reading - I'd see missing articles here and there (pressed to find one now, I can't!). Nothing big but e...more
Jun 13, 2009
Sara
added it
I didn't know a thing about the Women's Army Corps in WWII, let alone the African-American units. Never fear, Mare told me all about it, in an extremely entertaining and honest voice that just makes you want to root for this girl who starts with nothing, and gains a whole new life in the Army.
Here's Mare's arrival to basic training in Des Moines:
"Can't see nothin' of Des Moines, 'cause it is pitch-dark and raining when we arrive. We stand around in the cold, waitin'. After a while, they send tru...more
Here's Mare's arrival to basic training in Des Moines:
"Can't see nothin' of Des Moines, 'cause it is pitch-dark and raining when we arrive. We stand around in the cold, waitin'. After a while, they send tru...more
MARE'S WAR BY TANITA S.DAVIS
Marey Lee Boylen is an African American teenager living in Alabama during World War Two. She works as a maid to earn money for her twelve year old sister, mother, and her sleazy,step father. When her step father nearly kills her she decides to leave home and join the army. Although she isn't old enough to join she manages to sneak in. The army unfolds a new era for Marey and no one is going to make her go home.
I really enjoyed reading MARE'S WAR. It was a quick read f...more
Marey Lee Boylen is an African American teenager living in Alabama during World War Two. She works as a maid to earn money for her twelve year old sister, mother, and her sleazy,step father. When her step father nearly kills her she decides to leave home and join the army. Although she isn't old enough to join she manages to sneak in. The army unfolds a new era for Marey and no one is going to make her go home.
I really enjoyed reading MARE'S WAR. It was a quick read f...more
This book is soooo middle grade and not YA. That isn't an insult, but I will criticize it for its teenage characters seeming 12 and 14, not 15 and 17.
The "then" parts were way more interesting than the "now" ones. I wonder why Davis (or her editor?) even found them necessary. I also have a huge problem with how the modern day teenagers are presented. It isn't only that they seem so young, but it is offensive to me that a great deal of the "then" story seems only written to prove how lucky kids...more
The "then" parts were way more interesting than the "now" ones. I wonder why Davis (or her editor?) even found them necessary. I also have a huge problem with how the modern day teenagers are presented. It isn't only that they seem so young, but it is offensive to me that a great deal of the "then" story seems only written to prove how lucky kids...more
Very enjoyable book about a history I only knew a little about. There are two storylines that blend beautifully. A grandmother is driving her two teenage granddaughters cross country for a reunion. As she drives she tells her story of running away from home and joining the U.S. Army during World War II. The chapters switch back and forth between then and now. Then is told in first person narration of Ms. Marey Lee Boyln. Now is told from the perspective of her granddaughter Octavia.
I liked that...more
I liked that...more
I thought I was going to like this one; in fact, I continually tried to persuade myself of its merits throughout the week and a half it took me to finish reading this book. I mean, a historical fiction novel about African-American women serving in the military during World War II? Sounds right up my ally.
Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this one. It was a bit long, and tended to drag on at times to the point that I would put it down and completely forget what I had read. Also, I wasn't a...more
Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this one. It was a bit long, and tended to drag on at times to the point that I would put it down and completely forget what I had read. Also, I wasn't a...more
I'm not sure which aspect of this novel appealed to me more, the setting-shifting narration, the lessons of intergenerational relationships, or the topic of the WAC (Women's Army Corp). I approached this novel as an opportunity to give my students an extra credit book report when studying WWII. But, there are so many wonderful elements, I found myself devouring the story for my own selfish reasons. I am grateful the author told her story using a cross-country roadtrip as the vehicle (pun intende...more
Feb 11, 2010
Bethany Miller
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
ms-miller-s-book-list,
ap-history-lit-circles
Tali and Octavia are not excited to spend their summer on a cross country road trip with their slow driving, cigarette smoking grandmother Mare. To ease the boredom of hour after hour in the car, Mare tells the girls about being a part of the Women's Army during World War II. As the novel progresses, the girls are more and more drawn into Mare's story, and they begin to realize that there is more to Mare than they ever could have imagined. I liked that the characters in this book are very round...more
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