Fish and his friends should inspire young readers facing their own challenges. The story explores racism as well as friendship, family bonds, sacrifice, and the cost of war. The two stories seem to be completely unrelated until Fish and Erich bond in their efforts to save Liberty from a cruel neighbor. Erich’s first-person narrative provides a rare viewpoint of a soldier on the other side of World War II. A parallel plot involves 17-year-old German soldier Erich, a prisoner of war. Fish’s sister works for real-life manufacturer Andrew Jackson Higgins, whose factories produced ships credited with helping the Allies win the war. He adopts a stray dog, whom he names Liberty, and builds inventions from plans he finds in old issues of Popular Mechanics. Fish had polio and walks with a limp, but he is determined to regain his strength and mobility. Fish is a young boy living with his older sister in New Orleans while his father is a soldier fighting in World War II. What did you like about the book? It’s a winning combination: compelling historical fiction and a great dog story written by an author with a gift for creating memorable characters. Liberty (Dogs of World War II series) by Kirby Larson, Scholastic Press, (9780545840712), 2016
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