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Hall Family Chronicles #5
The Fragile Flag
A nine-year-old girl leads a march of children from Massachusetts to Washington, in protest against the President's new missile which is capable of destroying the earth.
275 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
180 people want to read
About the author
Jane Langton
70 books127 followersLangton was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She studied astronomy at Wellesley College and the University of Michigan, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1944. She received an M.A. in art history from the University of Michigan in 1945, and another M.A. from Radcliffe College in 1948. She studied at the Boston Museum School from 1958 to 1959.
In 1961 Langton wrote and illustrated her first book for children, The Majesty of Grace, a story about a young girl during the Depression who is certain she will some day be Queen of England. Langton has since written a children's series, The Hall Family Chronicles, and the Homer Kelly murder mystery novels. She has also written several stand-alone novels and picture books.
Langton's novel The Fledgling is a Newbery Honor book. Her novel Emily Dickinson is Dead was nominated for an Edgar Award and received a Nero Award. The Face on the Wall was an editors' choice selection by The Drood Review of Mystery for 1998.
Langton lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts, near the town of Concord, the setting of many of her novels. Her husband, Bill, died in 1997. Langton has three adult sons: Chris, David and Andy.
Series:
* Hall Family
* Homer Kelly Mystery
In 1961 Langton wrote and illustrated her first book for children, The Majesty of Grace, a story about a young girl during the Depression who is certain she will some day be Queen of England. Langton has since written a children's series, The Hall Family Chronicles, and the Homer Kelly murder mystery novels. She has also written several stand-alone novels and picture books.
Langton's novel The Fledgling is a Newbery Honor book. Her novel Emily Dickinson is Dead was nominated for an Edgar Award and received a Nero Award. The Face on the Wall was an editors' choice selection by The Drood Review of Mystery for 1998.
Langton lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts, near the town of Concord, the setting of many of her novels. Her husband, Bill, died in 1997. Langton has three adult sons: Chris, David and Andy.
Series:
* Hall Family
* Homer Kelly Mystery
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 17, 2008
my memories of this story has faded gently, like a quilt after many washings, but I still remember the surge of conscientious patriotism it evoked. of course she should walk to DC with a flag whose very condition symbolized the country! of course she'll defeat those arrayed against her, all with peace! U-S-A! U-S-A!
i don't recall the flag being magical, just that it inspired through visions...which could be called magical...I guess. if only there really was a magical flag hanging in the Oval Office that reminded leaders of their duty....
i don't recall the flag being magical, just that it inspired through visions...which could be called magical...I guess. if only there really was a magical flag hanging in the Oval Office that reminded leaders of their duty....
December 27, 2016
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
The Fragile Flag is the fifth book in the Hall Family Chronicles series, following the 1981 Newbery Honor Book, The Fledgling. The President of the United States has decided to reinvent the American flag as a flashier, tackier emblem of his new vision for the United States, which involves, among other things, launching a peace missile into space to protect the country from nuclear destruction by other nations. He has challenged schoolchildren across the country to write letters describing what the American flag means to them; one winner from each state will then be invited to be the official White House flag bearer. Georgie Hall, whose entire family is disturbed by the peace missile, falls ill and misses the deadline for mailing her letter. Deciding its contents - her plea against the missile - are too important for the president not to read, she sets off for the White House on foot. At first, Georgie is accompanied only by a flag from the attic, which occasionally provides her with visions of the future, and just a few companions. As she marches from Massachusetts to Washington, however, more groups join in, and the march gains media attention. The president becomes increasingly alarmed by the size of the group and finds himself faced with the uncomfortable possibility of arguing about nuclear weapons with countless children.
This book is very much a story of the Cold War, but though it deals specifically with nuclear weapons, its message can appeal to a much broader audience. At its heart, this is a story about kids banding together to accomplish something none of them could do on their own. The most enjoyable part of the story, for me, is watching the way the kids organize themselves, each one taking on the role best suited to his or her skills and personality. The descriptions of the conditions as the kids walk through heat and rain, and sleep in fields and church halls, make the reader feel as though he or she is right there with them on the march. Especially wonderful are characters like Georgie’s best friend, Frieda, who leads the troops with a clipboard and megaphone and baby Carrington, who rides the length of the march in his little stroller. The story is farfetched, and even the author’s note suggests it might not be wise to try such a feat in real life, but the message that good people coming together can create change is no less powerful for the fact that such a thing might not actually happen.
The Fragile Flag is very different in tone from The Fledgling, and from the books that follow it, The Time Bike (2000) and The Mysterious Circus (2005). Though I have enjoyed the other Hall family books so far, this one was probably the most enjoyable to read, and the one I would be most likely to read a second time. Like most of the other books in the series, The Fragile Flag is out of print, and it’s becoming harder to find in libraries, but I think it’s a really interesting way to introduce young readers to some of the issues of the Cold War and a great read-alike for Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. Definitely worth a thorough reading if you can find a copy.
The Fragile Flag is the fifth book in the Hall Family Chronicles series, following the 1981 Newbery Honor Book, The Fledgling. The President of the United States has decided to reinvent the American flag as a flashier, tackier emblem of his new vision for the United States, which involves, among other things, launching a peace missile into space to protect the country from nuclear destruction by other nations. He has challenged schoolchildren across the country to write letters describing what the American flag means to them; one winner from each state will then be invited to be the official White House flag bearer. Georgie Hall, whose entire family is disturbed by the peace missile, falls ill and misses the deadline for mailing her letter. Deciding its contents - her plea against the missile - are too important for the president not to read, she sets off for the White House on foot. At first, Georgie is accompanied only by a flag from the attic, which occasionally provides her with visions of the future, and just a few companions. As she marches from Massachusetts to Washington, however, more groups join in, and the march gains media attention. The president becomes increasingly alarmed by the size of the group and finds himself faced with the uncomfortable possibility of arguing about nuclear weapons with countless children.
This book is very much a story of the Cold War, but though it deals specifically with nuclear weapons, its message can appeal to a much broader audience. At its heart, this is a story about kids banding together to accomplish something none of them could do on their own. The most enjoyable part of the story, for me, is watching the way the kids organize themselves, each one taking on the role best suited to his or her skills and personality. The descriptions of the conditions as the kids walk through heat and rain, and sleep in fields and church halls, make the reader feel as though he or she is right there with them on the march. Especially wonderful are characters like Georgie’s best friend, Frieda, who leads the troops with a clipboard and megaphone and baby Carrington, who rides the length of the march in his little stroller. The story is farfetched, and even the author’s note suggests it might not be wise to try such a feat in real life, but the message that good people coming together can create change is no less powerful for the fact that such a thing might not actually happen.
The Fragile Flag is very different in tone from The Fledgling, and from the books that follow it, The Time Bike (2000) and The Mysterious Circus (2005). Though I have enjoyed the other Hall family books so far, this one was probably the most enjoyable to read, and the one I would be most likely to read a second time. Like most of the other books in the series, The Fragile Flag is out of print, and it’s becoming harder to find in libraries, but I think it’s a really interesting way to introduce young readers to some of the issues of the Cold War and a great read-alike for Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. Definitely worth a thorough reading if you can find a copy.
September 17, 2007
The kids from The Diamond in the Window (and later books) march to Washington, trying to convince the President not to launch a nuclear missle. As an adult I can see that this book is quite heavy-handed in its anti-nuclear-war message, but as a kid I didn't notice, except to feel a little guilty that I didn't care about nuclear war nearly as much as these kids (I think I was born a little too late). I love the characters, and the descriptions of walking and camping. It's interesting to watch the crusade evolve from a handful of friends into thousands of other kids.
The tone is dramatically different from The Diamond in the Window and the two following--these are modern kids (mid 1980s), instead of vaguely old-fashioned kids (my impression is that Eleanor and Eddy seemed a little old-fashioned even when those books were new, though I could be wrong). Eddy and Georgie are more believable to me as being the same kids as early in the series than Eleanor is.
I reread this for the first time in ages and was absolutely astonished by how much the fictional administration and political climate resembled the current situation.
The tone is dramatically different from The Diamond in the Window and the two following--these are modern kids (mid 1980s), instead of vaguely old-fashioned kids (my impression is that Eleanor and Eddy seemed a little old-fashioned even when those books were new, though I could be wrong). Eddy and Georgie are more believable to me as being the same kids as early in the series than Eleanor is.
I reread this for the first time in ages and was absolutely astonished by how much the fictional administration and political climate resembled the current situation.
February 16, 2010
Heavy-handed and goofy in equal measures, this book manages to rise above its flaws and tell a story that, while far-fetched, would have been balm to my troubled soul as a pre-teen. It's a message book whose time has, one fervently hopes, passed- though President Toby seemed far too similar to another four-letter-name president in both thought and deed.
I would have liked it better had I read it earlier, and though I'm glad I read it, it'll never be on my favorites shelf.
I would have liked it better had I read it earlier, and though I'm glad I read it, it'll never be on my favorites shelf.
October 15, 2008
This is a very entertaining children's story
May 6, 2018
Had trouble suspending my disbelief about a pack of kids marching down route 1, especially once the baby in a stroller got dropped off with them.
July 4, 2017
A great book for the Fourth of July. One of my favorites about how the flag can be used to further a negative agenda, and how it can also remind people of what our country should be. Read this now.
July 29, 2008
I had to choose this edition instead of the 2002 reprint, just because the fact that it was first published in 1984 so informs both the book and my experience of it. This was probably the single most influential book I read during the two years we lived in Wisconsin (July 1982-August 1984). It was hand-sold to me by the children's librarian at the Menasha Public Library (man, that picture brings me back), a wonderful woman whose name I don't know but who kept the new items she thought I might like in her office, knowing I would be in just about every week to get them.
Georgie Hall, the main character, was, to me, the epitome of optimism and empowerment. Adults were making all kinds of crazy, scary decisions about weapons and wars that had me profoundly worried, but that Georgie could single-handedly get people to pay attention and act in a way that was kind and reasonable gave me reason to hope.
Georgie Hall, the main character, was, to me, the epitome of optimism and empowerment. Adults were making all kinds of crazy, scary decisions about weapons and wars that had me profoundly worried, but that Georgie could single-handedly get people to pay attention and act in a way that was kind and reasonable gave me reason to hope.
July 5, 2018
I hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July!!! finished the book the next day!!! The book is so inspiring to me I had highlighted a lot of things...Jane really outdone herself this time writing this book. It makes you wonder if this patriotic story can underline our reality in the real world. When I first read the book in 2002 I thought it was just a simple book to do a book report on...but after started back reading it October 2014 and now finishing it I still don't want the book to end. I think The Fragile Flag is a classic and one of those books I definitely needed to read. I was 12 when I got it now I'm 25. I think every real American should read this book,it mimics a Dr. King activism euphoria. One day I hope that I or somebody would actually make this a real-life legacy for our country to remind us how great we truly are.
July 8, 2008
This was possibly the most complex and interesting of the Hall family books. In the near future, the president of the United States not only decides to change the flag (making it more flashy, with gold accents!) but is also on the verge of a starting a nuclear attack. Georgie and the other kids take up an old flag they find at home and march to Washington in protest. Along the way they gather child after child, and what starts as Georgie being determined ends up being a New Childrens' Crusade.
July 31, 2025
I enjoyed reading this book in elementary school. I'm not sure why the title has stuck with me all these years. I never read any of the other Hall Family Chronicles and didn't realize at the time this book was part of a series.
I appreciated the protagonists determination to see this thing to the end.
I appreciated the protagonists determination to see this thing to the end.
April 28, 2015
Too preachy, but a good story.
April 1, 2013
Social activism as children march to Washington DC to read Georgia's letter about what her flag means to her and to stop the President's "peace missile" project.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews