Top Ten for Tuesday, November 9, 2010

This week, we will honor our Veterans.   It is a tradition at Lemme School to have an assembly where we invite Veterans from the community to attend.  We do a flag ceremony, Taps, sing God Bless America and watch a slide show of all Lemme family members who have ever served in the military.  All of the children get to shake the hand of a Veteran and many classes hang artwork in the hall for them to see.  After the assembly, the Veterans are invited to classrooms to share their stories. 

I tear up every year, even though I know what is coming. I have always been patriotic, proud of our troops (although I don't support war) and proud of our country (even if I don't always agree with the politics,  I wouldn't live anywhere else in the world) but ever since 9/11, I can't control my emotions when it comes to honoring our troops and our country.  Today, I give some of what the Lemme Library has to offer, and dedicate my post  to all Veterans; past, present and future.

Shooting the Moon by Frances O'Rourke Dowell F DOW

When her brother is sent to fight in Vietnam, twelve-year-old Jamie begins to reconsider the army world that she has grown up in.

Lily's Crossing by Patricia Riley Giff F GIF

During a summer spent at Rockaway Beach in 1944, Lily's friendship with a young Hungarian refugee causes her to see the war and her own world differently.

Stumptown Kid by Carol Gorman F GOR

In a small Iowa town in 1952, eleven-year-old Charlie Nebraska, whose father died in the Korean War, learns the meaning of both racism and heroism when he befriends Luther Peale, a young man who once played for the old Negro Baseball League.

Missing in Action by Dean Hughes F HUG

While his father is missing in action in the Pacific during World War II, twelve-year-old Jay moves with his mother to small-town Utah, where he sees prejudice from both sides, as a part-Navajo himself and through an unlikely friendship with Japanese American Ken from the nearby internment camp.

Back Home by Julia Keller F KEL

Thirteen-year-old Rachel Browning understands that her father will be different after being injured in the Iraq War, but no one is prepared for the impact that his traumatic brain injury and other wounds have on the entire family.

The Art of Keeping Cool by Janet Taylor Lisle F LIS

In 1942, Robert and his cousin Elliot uncover long-hidden family secrets while staying in their grandparents' Rhode Island town, where they also become involved with a German artist who is suspected of being a spy.

Crow Call by Lois Lowry E LOW 

Nine-year-old Liz accompanies the stranger who is her father, just returned from the war, when he goes hunting for crows in Pennsylvania farmland.

Stars Above Us by Geoffrey Norman E NOR

Amanda's father is a soldier, but before he leaves for war, he teaches her not to be afraid of the things that live in the dark--which includes fireflies and crickets--and about the stars.

Thin Wood Walls by David Pateneaude F PAT

Joe Hamada and his family face growing prejudice in their Seattle community after the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, and are eventually torn away from their home and sent to a relocation camp in California, even as his older brother joins the U.S. Army to fight in World War II.

On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck F PEC

A boy in Illinois remembers the homefront years of World War II, especially his two heroes--his brother in the Air Force and his father, who fought in the previous war.