It has been far too long since I posted last. Where have I been? Well, there was lacrosse, and work, and more lacrosse, and much more work. You get the picture. There was also some knitting in there somewhere. I'll catch you up. Or not. You know how it goes. First off, we have a book review. Too bad it wasn't a better book...
The Last Mission by Harry MazerMy review
rating: 2 of 5 stars
The Last Mission was a pick from my book club for the History/Historical Fiction month. One of our members is working on a biography of her father who flew in WWII and was a POW for several years. Her hope was to pick up something from this book that would help her on her way. Alas, there was little to be gleaned from this volume. Mr. Mazer has written many young adult books on WWII, but sometimes I wonder if he really decided to whom he was writing. This book, for example, seems to swing wildly between a book aimed to relate to young men, a book clearly for adults only, and an anti-war treatise. Much of the book was obviously aimed at young wannabe heroes, but the language, while probably authentic, wasn't necessary for the audience. Sorry, but I don't hand books to my 11 year old that are sprinkled with the F-word, no matter how true that is to the period. Given that my father, a WWII veteran, who was known to pepper his language with colorful expletives, never used the F-word (to my recollection), I wonder how true to life it actually was! It wasn't necessary and annoyed me greatly.
The anti-war rhetoric tacked on literally at the very end was also odd. I don't disagree with the sentiment, it just seemed disjointed.
So, if you are determined to read every WWII-related book out there, here is one for your shelves. I can't recommend it for young adults because of the language and I can't recommend it for most readers because it just wasn't that well-written. Character development was minimal (even for young adult book standards). The best I can say is that it was a quick read.
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