Mare's War

Mare's War
Tanita S. Davis
June 2009

Summary:

Meet Mare, a grandmother with flair and a fascinating past.

Octavia and Tali are dreading the road trip their parents are forcing them to take with their grandmother over the summer. After all, Mare isn’t your typical grandmother. She drives a red sports car, wears stiletto shoes, flippy wigs, and push-up bras, and insists that she’s too young to be called Grandma. But somewhere on the road, Octavia and Tali discover there’s more to Mare than what you see. She was once a willful teenager who escaped her less-than-perfect life in the deep South and lied about her age to join the African American battalion of the Women’s Army Corps during World War II.

Told in alternating chapters, half of which follow Mare through her experiences as a WAC member and half of which follow Mare and her granddaughters on the road in the present day, this novel introduces a larger-than-life character who will stay with readers long after they finish reading.

Review:

This was a book that I read for my Black History Month celebration, and unfortunately it was the only one I got the chance to finish. That being said, onto my review...

This book was merely okay for me. I really like the overall concept: women going off to war is not something that gets written about very often, at least in my experiences. Add to it that Mare was African American and it becomes even more of a taboo subject. I was really curious to see how her experiences turned out.

I was definitely intrigued, but I felt like the book didn't completely live up to my expectations. It was fairly predictable, and I was hoping for something to happen to prove me wrong at the end. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

Mare's War was definitely a good read, but I would have enjoyed it much more if it weren't as predictable. However, if you're looking for something with a good lesson and a really great family story, this novel is for you.

Jane

PS. Right now Amazon is selling the hardcover as a bargain book for $5.50. Good deal, I'd say. And it'd probably be worth it :)