My+Secret+War-The+World+War+ll+Diary+of+Madeline+Beck-Long+Island,+New+York,+1941

= **Copyright Date:2000** = = **Page Number:186** = = **AR Level:5.5** = = **AR Points:4.0** = = **Mary Pope Osborne** = = = =__Who was the book about?__= ...This book is about a girl and her dad on an aircraft ship. The little girl lives near the sea in Long Island, New York. She lives with other people and her mom. She feels like she is sort of humiliated a lot. This girl is Beck. Madeline Beck. She gets humiliated by the Star Points which is a group of mean girls. Maxine is the leader of the Star Points. "...Dear Diary, ...A terrible day today. Before the bell rang, the Star Points linked arms in the schoolyard and drifted around singing, "I Dream of Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair." Though I was standing off to the side by myself, I made the hideous mistake of singing along with them. Maxine pointed at me, and they giggled like I was a goon. ...I can't even tell mom about this experience. It was so humiliating. It's hard to even write about it in my diary." (P.13) = = =__Where and when does it take place?__= ...This book is is in the state of Long Island. The year this takes place is in 1941 and 1942. The main setting is old, rundown boardinghouse. I got a picture that the house was very big in a sentence that said Mrs. Hawkins' Mansion-by-the- sea. "Mom and I have been living here in Mrs. Hawkins's Mansion-by-the-Sea for a week now. The name is misleading." (P.3) Madeline starts her diary September 26, 1941 and ends it July 23,1942. = = =__**What is the major conflict in this story?**__= ...The major conflict in this story is that it was the beginning of World War II. Madeline watches the ocean almost every day to see if there are Nazi submarines. If there is something wrong, she would put a note that was in a tree stump. The note would be in a secret code that only two people knew about. Those two people were Madeline and Johnny, which is her boyfriend. The real conflict is about Madeline's dad. Her dad was on the aircraft carrier and then the ship got hit. A letter came and it told Madeline and everyone else about what happened. Read the book to find out what is wrong to Madeline's dad. “...Dear diary, ...Yesterday a telegram came. ...Late in the afternoon. Mom was at work. I was sitting in the parlor designing our club uniform, when the front bell rang. I looked out the window and saw the telegram boy at the door. ...I started to scream like I always thought I would. I screamed and screamed and I even tried to lock the front door. ...Theo limped into the hall and grabbed me and held me, and Miss Burke opened the dor and signed for the telegram. It was from the department of the Navy. ...I was shaking and crying as Theo held me. Clara, Mrs. Rosenthal, and Mrs. Hawkins all listened gravely as Miss Burke read the telegram aloud: ...THE NAVY REGRETS TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR HUSBAND LIEUTENANT COMMANDER DAVID BECK HAS BEEN CRITICALLY WOUNDED STOP WE WILL FURNISH MORE DETAILS WHEN AVAILABLE STOP” (P.100 AND 101) = = =**__Recommendation__**= ...I would recommend this book to an //American// that is 10+ that is into the war. The reason I recommend this book to an American is that a German that had a Nazi ancestor might not like this. This is a historical fiction because it has facts in this story and it might have never happened.If you want to read this book, the cover looks like this-



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