The invasion of German-occupied France is about to begin. While the publisher recommends the book for kids 8-12, it's best for readers nature enough to deal with the harsh realities of war.ĪLLIES begins before dawn on June 6, 1944, as two American soldiers, 16-year-old Dee Carpenter (a German immigrant) and his best friend, 17-year-old Sid Jacobstein, are boarding one of the boats that will take them and thousands of other Allied soldiers to the beaches of Normandy. Minorities in the novel are labeled with nicknames commonly used in the 1940s ("Yid," "spade," "coon," "boy") that the author makes clear are offensive. The Nazis force women and children into a church and set it on fire. Soldiers are blown up by underwater mines, "obliterated" by mortar shells, and cut down by machine guns. The violence builds as the day unfolds and becomes constant, vividly recounted, and sometimes unexpected, as characters that readers have come to know are killed or wounded. The novel interweaves the stories of young soldiers (two American infantrymen, two paratroopers from Canada, an African American medic, and a member of a British tank crew) and two young French girls. This is D-Day, just as the invasion of France by Allied forces fighting against Nazi Germany is about to begin. (Feb.Parents need to know that Alan Gratz's novel, Allies, takes place from dawn until after nightfall on June 6, 1944. Similarly, dialogue proves didactic as it works to convey the politics, history, and moral calculus surrounding the events. story conveys immediacy and depth, the Afghan story lacks nuance, relying on simplistic explanations when describing the history of the Taliban and what draws Reshmina’s twin brother to its ranks. In alternating perspectives, the narrative tackles grim realities of both scenarios, including ongoing violence in Afghanistan and bodies falling from the tower in New York, balancing the horrors with moments of grace and hope. 11, 2001, after being suspended for standing up to a bully with his fists, nine-year-old Brooklynite Brandon Chavez accompanies his kitchen manager father to the Windows of the World restaurant in the World Trade Center’s North Tower. When she rescues an American soldier who is wounded by the Taliban, her village becomes a Taliban target. In September of 2019, devoted student Reshmina, 11, lives in a mountainside village in Afghanistan, dreaming of a future other than marriage. Publishing in time for the 20th anniversary of 9/11, this tautly paced novel by Gratz ( Resist) explores the events of that tragedy and the subsequent American response through two parallel story lines.
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