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Gr 4-7-Bird McGill regards her dad as her best friend. He takes her up in the planes he repairs and lets her take the controls, and he encourages her dream of becoming a pilot. But a special bulletin disrupts her 11th-birthday afternoon: Japan has attacked the military base in Pearl Harbor, and Bird's world is turned upside down. During the next few months, the local airstrip is turned into a military flight school, and her dad is shipped overseas. When a Japanese-American boy joins Bird's class
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My new favorite "girl power" book for the 8-11 ages. Non-stop action!
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This is a 2013 Caudill Nominee.
It is a historical fiction book set in WWII.
Birdie's father is away at war, and on the homefront the Japanese Americans are being sent to internment camps.
Birdie becaomes friends with Kenji, a Japanese American in Rhode Island.
They become friends, but a huge stumbling block comes across their path.
Kenji's gradfather is accused of destroying an American War station.
If true Kenji & grandfather will go into the internment camps.
Birdie is just hoping her Dad will come ...more
It is a historical fiction book set in WWII.
Birdie's father is away at war, and on the homefront the Japanese Americans are being sent to internment camps.
Birdie becaomes friends with Kenji, a Japanese American in Rhode Island.
They become friends, but a huge stumbling block comes across their path.
Kenji's gradfather is accused of destroying an American War station.
If true Kenji & grandfather will go into the internment camps.
Birdie is just hoping her Dad will come ...more

This action-adventure book lagged a little in the beginning but had me turning pages at the end. The plot sure seemed far-fetched at times, and downright heavy in places, too; the book tackles racial prejudices, blackmail, homicide, sabotage, and more. And there sure was a lot of references to the big sister's bra (especially considering that my little third grader will be reading this book!). But once I let myself fall into the plot a bit, I found myself rather enjoying the book. Good girl-powe
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Eleven year-old Bird McGill dreams about being a woman fighter pilot and overcomes prejudice against Japanese-Americans when she befriends Kenji, a new boy at school, in this middle-grades novel set during World War II. Although I enjoyed Bird's wise-cracking, irreverent voice for much of the book, at times, it was a bit grating. Best for kids in grades 4-6 who like historical fiction.
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Apr 02, 2009
Rachel
marked it as to-read

Jun 22, 2009
Shauna Yusko
added it


May 26, 2012
Carol Coutts
marked it as to-read

Jun 23, 2013
Teresa Garrett
marked it as to-read