Meet Mare, a grandmother with flair and a fascinating past.
Octavia and Tali are dreading the road trip their parents are forcing the... read full description
Octavia and Tali are dreading the road trip their parents are forcing the... read full description
reviews
Sep 11, 2011
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 t 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 t More...
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Sep 05, 2011
BRMS
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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, whil
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Dec 13, 2010
Danielle
rated it: 
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 whe More...
Alternating chapters break the story down between “now” and “then”, but Mare’s story is whe More...
Jul 16, 2010
Jacki
rated it: 
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 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 More...
Jun 24, 2010
Bronwyn
rated it: 
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
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Apr 05, 2010
Carol
rated it:
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 intera More...
I liked it because of how the author, Tanita Davis, wove history and character education lessons into Mare’s intera More...
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Jan 27, 2010
Aaron
rated it:
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 grandmothe 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 grandmothe More...
Jul 16, 2009
Jennifer
rated it:
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 a 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 a More...
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Jun 11, 2009
Jennifer
rated it:
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. 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. More...
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Feb 17, 2011
Cathy
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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 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 More...
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Jan 23, 2010
Kris
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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 More...
What I didn't like was how the author held back in sharing Mare's More...
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Oct 10, 2009
Brenda
rated it:
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 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 More...
Nov 10, 2011
Cher
rated it:
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
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Dec 19, 2009
Ricki
rated it:
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
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Jul 10, 2010
Kristopher
rated it:
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 E More...
Through boot camp and the E More...
Aug 01, 2010
Kelly
rated it:
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
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Dec 16, 2009
Kelly
rated it:
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' 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' More...
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Jun 13, 2009
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'. 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'. More...
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Oct 21, 2010
laaaaames
rated it:
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 see 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 see More...
Jun 15, 2009
Jemima
rated it:
When Octavia and Tali are forced to spend their summer going on a road trip with their eccentric grandmother Mare, they do not expect to actually enjoy one moment. As the long trip proceeds the two sisters discover so much untold history and are inspired by Mare's past. She was a member of the African American battalion of the woman's army corps during World War II. Mare's experiences and friendships spark Octavia and Tali's imaginations and they immediately apply the lessons to their own lives
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Feb 14, 2011
Lauren
rated it:
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.
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Jan 18, 2012
Hannah
rated it:
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 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 More...
Jul 23, 2011
Amy
rated it:
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
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Feb 11, 2010
Bethany
rated it:
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 rou
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Oct 17, 2009
Savannah
rated it:
A nicely-done duel-timeline book, although the grandmother recounting her WWII adventures is the much more compelling of the two and the "now" of the road trip with her two granddaughters pretty much just feeds it. What is worthwhile well beyond the simple story-telling, however, is the portrayal of racial segregation and sexism as black women moved into active military roles. The personal tone of the storyteller is vivid and nuanced, and I especially liked the way she expressed the gr
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Jul 17, 2009
Bridget
rated it:
Historical fiction and realistic fiction-About two teenage girls taking a road trip with their grandmother to a family reunion. As the three travel across the country the girls learn that their grandmother served as a WAC during WWII. The teens strengthen their appreciation for their grandmother and better understand her unique, edgy, personality traits while coming to understand what it was like to be an african american, female serving during WWII. Excellent for students to understand not o
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Apr 19, 2011
StorySnoops
rated it:
In this worthwhile book, chapters alternate between the present and Mare's earlier life during the Great Depression in the South and during World War II. Facts about an important part of our history and the role of African-American women in the war are packaged in a highly compelling story, without ever being dull. Like the girls, readers will come to appreciate and admire Mare, and gain some perspective about the trivial nature of their own teen angst. Mare describes her hard life as a child. S
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Feb 25, 2011
Kristenfalsocapaldi
rated it:
This is a YA title. I liked Mare's story, and learned a lot from this historical fiction about the African American battalion of the Women’s Army Corps during World War II. Mare seemed very real and honest to me. My only criticisms are the cover (one of the worst I've seen!) and for the most part, the chapters with the teenaged grand-daughters could have been scaled way back. I think the point was to show that the girls were spoiled and didn't fully understand the struggles of the past, but
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Jul 06, 2010
Kristen
rated it:
My agent, Steven Chudney, also represents the author of this book. It won an Coretta Scott King Honor award for 2010. This is a nice mix of past and present--about two chapters of 'past' for every one chapter of 'present'--which is good, because I was more interested in the past than the present in this case. I've always been fascinated with WWII stories, and I'm constantly amazed at gems like this book that tell a story about a piece of that time period that I had no idea even existed. The piec
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Feb 02, 2011
Jill
rated it:
Mare’s War is a [fictional] account of a woman who served in the [actual] 6888th Postal Battalion of the Women’s Army Corps for African American women soldiers during World War II. Although this unit was trained for combat conditions, its primary function was to handle the thousands of pieces of backlogged mail in Europe during the war.
This entertaining and educational book for Young Adults contains all sorts of positive lessons for teens, from respect for elders to some of the servi More...
This entertaining and educational book for Young Adults contains all sorts of positive lessons for teens, from respect for elders to some of the servi More...
