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What Members Thought
Dogtag Summer offers additional perspective on the vast impact the Vietnam War had on lives around the world. Patridge does a good job bringing history to life through the experiences of Tracy, a young girl who has been adopted from Vietnam by an American soldier and his wife. As experienced through brief flashbacks that interrupt Tracy's languid summer days between elementary and middle school, the reader learns her story and the trauma she endures living as a child during the Vietnam War. This
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Feb 27, 2011
Mary Ann
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
6th,
5th,
courage,
fathers,
families,
friendship,
mother-daughter,
realistic,
coming-of-age,
adoption
Who am I? Where do I belong? Who can I trust? These are questions that all children ask as they grow older, but for twelve-year-old Tracy these questions haunt her. In the moving story Dogtag Summer, Tracy knows that her mother was Vietnamese and she was adopted when she was six, just after the Vietnam War ended. But her parents won't share any other real information with her. So she is left with a hole in her heart, an empty place inside her.
Tracy's summer between 5th and 6th grade was supposed ...more
Tracy's summer between 5th and 6th grade was supposed ...more
A historical fiction novel that takes place in 1980 in California and consists of memories that take place in 1975 in Vietnam. Tracy is blindsided by memories of her life in Vietnam and spends the summer trying to sort out her past and make sense of the present. The plot thickens when she and her friend Stargazer find an ammo box and a dogtag amongst her dad's things. Tensions soar as Tracy tries to investigate her old life and encounters resistance from her parents, especially her dad who was a
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The Vietnam War was such an important part of our nation's history that I am often dumbfounded when students today have no awareness of that volatile time. This book will surely kindle some curiosity about that time period in today's readers. It's the summer of 1980, and 12-year-old Tracy [her Vietnamese name was Tuyet] and her best friend Stargazer plan to build a replica of a Viking ship during their summer vacation. In search of tools to aid them in the project, they stumble upon an ammo box
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This is historical fiction set in 1980, flashing back to Vietnam 1975. The books many topics include: adoption, the effects of war on children, the stigma of being a 'half-breed', adults struggling with the after-effects of war, friendship. The following review from Amazon sums it up great:
"Who am I? Where do I belong? Who can I trust? These are questions that all children ask as they grow older, but for twelve-year-old Tracy these questions haunt her. In the moving story Dogtag Summer, Tracy k ...more
"Who am I? Where do I belong? Who can I trust? These are questions that all children ask as they grow older, but for twelve-year-old Tracy these questions haunt her. In the moving story Dogtag Summer, Tracy k ...more
There are things you want to forget but you can't. You can bury them but they always come to light. Thinking of going into a new school with new people triggers memories and questuons Tracy didn't know she had. Over the course of summer, the past resurfaces leaving her with questions about where she belongs, if anywhere. Would go well with All The Broken Pieces by Burg and Inside Out and Back Again by Lai.
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Haunting story about love, loss, the impact of war and trying to find your place in the world. Great middle grade read. Partridge has created emotional, raw characters dealing with what life has thrown their way. The friendship between Tracy and Stargazer is one many readers will identify with and/or long for. This would be a great companion read with All the Broken Pieces and Inside Out and Back Again.
If students liked All the Broken Pieces by Ann Burg, this is a great recommendation. This would be great for girls as the other would be for boys. It would serve teachers well if doing a unit on identity, like some of mine choose to do at the beginning of the school year.
Feb 28, 2011
Ellie
marked it as to-read
Mar 18, 2011
Julie
marked it as to-read
Jun 14, 2011
Rachel
marked it as to-read
Nov 21, 2011
Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy)
marked it as to-read
Nov 26, 2011
Teresa Garrett
marked it as to-read
May 29, 2013
Celeste
marked it as to-read
May 30, 2016
Debra Bowman
marked it as to-read
