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My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck, Long Island, New York 1941 (Dear America Series)
by Mary Pope Osborne
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (2000-09-01)
ISBN: 0590687158
EAN: 9780590687157
Hardcover: 190 pages
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
SKU: B-84-0612
Condition: Like New As Issued N
Comments: Stated First Edition First Printing. Hardback in very good condition with no markings. No dust jacket as issued. Illustrated hard cover near fine. Gift Quality. Tight binding and clear crisp text. Beautiful book.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Thirteen-year-old Madeline's diaries for 1941 and 1942 reveal her experiences living on Long Island during World War II while her father is away in the Navy.
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Customer Reviews
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A young girl's experiences in NY during WW II
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-10-15
The Dear America series of books are historical fiction, but the stories also have real facts interwoven into them. This can be confusing for readers but what needs to be kept in mind is that these books are great introductions to history for younger readers and the books do a good job of engaging readers and inculcating an interest in historical events.
In "My Secret War", 13-year-old Madeline Beck keeps a wartime diary as her father goes off to war in the Pacific. She befriends a local boy Johnny Vecchio and together they do what they can to support the war effort. A walk on the beach one night finds Madeline meeting a mysterious character and the rest of the story deals with what happens. Madeline's diary vividly evokes the uncertainties of the time and how people coped under duress.
There is a historical note at the end that briefly traces events of WW II and how the American people contributed to the war effort. There are also archival photographs of the time and even a recipe for "War Cake". All in all, another winner in the Dear America series.
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My Secret War rReview
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-03-16
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
"The navy regrets to tell you that our husband lieutenant commander David Beck has been critically wounded...we will furnish more details when available..." This was the telegram that Maddie Beck and her mother got from the U.S. navy. The K3F, her and her friends' war aid club, hadn't been enough to stop her dad's injury. The stress of being a tweenager with a father in World War Two was on Maddie's shoulders, and she managed to handle it. Though she had to leave her boyfriend and her life in Long Island, New York, Maddie's father was okay, and she later married her junior-high school sweetheart. Straight-forward and attention-grabbing, My Secret War was a great diary-form book to read.
It was pleasurable to be able to predict in part what was going to happen. Before the telegram reached Mrs. Hawkins's Mansion-by-the-Sea, I was anticipating that Maddie's father would die, and though he didn't, I was partly right because a telegram told them he was hurt. I also predicted that the "Coast Guard" who caught Maddie on the beach at night were really Nazis. It kept me on the edge of my seat, however, when Johnny told Maddie that he didn't really like Maxine, head of the Star Points-the popular girls-when I assumed that he liked her and not Maddie.
The author did an exquisite job of making Maddie look real through things like Maddie trying to break the habit of biting her nails or the feelings that she wrote in the diary. It was realistic that telling Johnny off would help her feel better, because people often feel that way when they are upset and blow off some steam on other people. Even when she kissed Johnny days before she left for California to see her dad, she needed a tissue and had to stop, which I found very real at the same time as humorous.
One component that made this book so effortless to read was the short chapters. Because they were usually only about a paragraph, you could read one in a spare minute, unlike other books whose chapters take at least ten minutes. Also, as well as the history, there was romance and drama so that the book wasn't completely obsolete and boring. The aspect of the book being the diary of a girl around the age of the book's targeted audience made you understand the way she was thinking so that you could understand and enjoy the book.
My Secret War allowed me to view history in a more nonchalant and less snore-intriguing way. The excellent unity between characters such as Johnny and Maddie, though their main topic of conversation was war, and the clever workings of the author's mind wove a magnificent story for its readers. Nazis working on Long Island were foiled by Johnny and Maddie, tin cans were collected left and right, and doggone it was the phrase of the day. It is definitely a five-star book.
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What I thought of My Sedret War
Rating  (4)
Date: 2006-12-19
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
I had to read this book, called My Secret War, for a US History book report. At first I chose this book because I noticed that is was on World War II. I have always been pretty interested in World War II because I know people that served in the army forces during it. As I began reading this book, it wasn't my very favorite. Once i got into it though, I thought that it was interesting and my opinion filp flopped. It is about a young teenage girl, and her life when her dad is sent to fight in the war as a Navy Commander, and how she and her mother deal with the compications of their lives. This book was written as a diary , and I found it easy to realate to because of the same age factor. I liked, and would recommend this book to any student around the ages twelve to about fourteen, because it is easy to understand due to the perspective that it is written in.
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Perfect for WWII unit study
Rating (4)
Date: 2006-12-11
2 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
I let my children read these types of books for our unit studies. They bring them into history quite well.
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My Secret War
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-05-10
2 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
I read the book My Secret War. This book is great. It is funny and exciting because you never know what's going to happen. I learned some interesting facts, and they are unbelieveable. I learned that all the contries fought in WWII. Madeline Beck's dad was in the war, but he got wounded in the war. I would recommend this book for three reasons. One is that you can look in the back of the book for amazing pictures. It's also interesting to read. The last one that you can learn about WWII. My Secret War is an amazing book.
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