Well, I thought this was a very enjoyable, informative tale describing life in 1932 in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Yes, it's written for 5th graders. And yes, it's historical fiction. But I look at books as a way to get kids interested in the past...including awesome pop culture, which this book does a great job of doing. There's a few spots where I'm not sure of the historical accuracy--Hitler is mentioned along with the fact that his party was gaining influence. But it's also mentioned that the US knew that they had a thing against the Jews. I don't know how public that information was in 1932. But I consider this a minor problem in a book who's sole importance for me is not in teaching history, but in getting kids interested in history. I love the inclusion of the main character, later in life, becoming a member of the WASPs and the fact that they didn't get formal recognition until 1991. Take that anti-revision history people--textbooks written 20 years ago wouldn't have even acknowledged the WASPs! So which book does a better job of teaching history? but I digress there. Sorry.
Hand this book to your 10 year old. Boys may or may not like it. I will warn you that there are 3 mentions of the fact that the friend of the main characters father killed himself by blasting his head off with a shotgun. I thought that when it happened in the story it was a bit shocking, but at least was vague enough for the naive reader--but later the character is quite blunt about the blasting. Just a warning, but as with everything, you should be reading what your kids are reading, know what they're watching, who their friends are. It's your judgment that matters--you know your kid.
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