This engaging memoir covers the first 25 years of Brian Edward's life in Northern Ireland during the 1940s and 1950s. His father abandoned his wife and son in dramatic circumstances when Brian was still a baby. He grew up in 'lodgings', often cared for by landladies who were mad, bad or simply sad, while his mother was at work. In his early teens Brian desperately tried to track down his mysterious father but to no avail. Years later he discovered that he had at least one half-sister and that his father may well have been a German spy, a bigamist and a charming con-man who embezzled funds from numerous employers. While Brian's relationship with his parents and their extended families lies at the heart of this book, Daddy was a German Spy is also a funny, poignant and intriguing story about growing up in Northern Ireland.

Looking out a second-story window of her family's quarters at the Pearl Harbor naval base on December 7, 1941, eleven-year-old Jackie Smith could see not only the Rising Sun insignias on the wings of attacking Japanese bombers, but the faces of the pilots inside. Most American children on the home front during the Second World War saw the enemy only in newsreels and the pages of Life Magazine, but from Pearl Harbor on, "the war"--with its blackouts, air raids, and government rationing--became a dramatic presence in all of their lives. Thirty million Americans relocated, 3,700,000 homemakers entered the labor force, sparking a national debate over working mothers and latchkey children, and millions of enlisted fathers and older brothers suddenly disappeared overseas or to far-off army bases. By the end of the war, 180,000 American children had lost their fathers. In "Daddy's Gone to War", William M. Tuttle, Jr., offers a fascinating and often poignant exploration of wartime America, and one of generation's odyssey from childhood to middle age. The voices of the home front children are vividly present in excerpts from the 2,500 letters Tuttle solicited from men and women across the country who are now in their fifties and sixties. From scrap-collection drives and Saturday matinees to the atomic bomb and V-J Day, here is the Second World War through the eyes of America's children. Women relive the frustration of always having to play nurses in neighborhood war games, and men remember being both afraid and eager to grow up and go to war themselves. (Not all were willing to wait. Tuttle tells of one twelve year old boy who strode into an Arizona recruiting office and declared, "I don't need my mother's consent...I'm a midget.") Former home front children recall as though it were yesterday the pain of saying good-bye, perhaps forever, to an enlisting father posted overseas and the sometimes equally unsettling experience of a long-absent father's return. A pioneering effort to reinvent the way we look at history and childhood, "Daddy's Gone to War" views the experiences of ordinary children through the lens of developmental psychology. Tuttle argues that the Second World War left an indelible imprint on the dreams and nightmares of an American generation, not only in childhood, but in adulthood as well. Drawing on his wide-ranging research, he makes the case that America's wartime belief in democracy and its rightful leadership of the Free World, as well as its assumptions about marriage and the family and the need to get ahead, remained largely unchallenged until the tumultuous years of the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam and Watergate. As the hopes and expectations of the home front children changed, so did their country's. In telling the story of a generation, Tuttle provides a vital missing piece of American cultural history.

Thriller involving the pursuit of 11-year old Thomas by the Gestapo. A chase leads through Europe and Thomas uses his brilliant chess-player's mind to outwit his pursuers to be reunited with his father.

THE SUMMER STORY OF THREE SISTERS, ONE RESTAURANT, AND A (POSSIBLE) GERMAN SPY World War II is coming in Europe. At least that’s what Frankie Baum heard on the radio. But from her small town in Maryland, in the wilting summer heat of 1939, the war is a world away. Besides, there are too many other things to think about: first that Frankie’s father up and bought a restaurant without telling anyone and now she has to help in the kitchen, peeling potatoes and washing dishes, when she’d rather be racing to Wexler’s Five and Dime on her skates. Plus her favorite sister, Joanie Baloney, is away for the summer and hasn’t been answering any of Frankie’s letters. But when some people in town start accusing her father of being a German spy, suddenly the war arrives at Frankie’s feet and she can think of nothing else. Could the rumors be true? Frankie must do some spying of her own to try to figure out her father’s secrets and clear his good name. What she discovers about him surprises everyone but is nothing compared to what she discovers about the world. In a heartfelt, charming, and insightful novel that is based on true events, Shawn K. Stout weaves a story about family secrets, intolerance, and coming of age that will keep readers guessing until the end. Praise for A Tiny Piece of Sky: “Through warm, funny characters, Shawn Stout builds a riveting bridge from the past that sheds light on today. Wholly memorable.”—Rita Williams-Garcia, Coretta Scott King Author Award winner for P.S. Be Eleven “Shawn Stout's Frankie Baum is that rare creation: a character so real, so true, we don't just feel we know her—we are her. Irrepressible Frankie meets issues like prejudice and loyalty head on, in a story both highly entertaining and deeply thought-provoking. She may be #3 in her family, but she'll be #1 in the hearts of all who read this book.”—Tricia Springstubb, author of What Happened on Fox Street “At turns hilarious, at turns heartbreaking, Shawn Stout’s story shows us the damage that a whisper campaign can do to a family and a community, and at the same time shows us, each of us, a way to find our hearts. Frankie Baum is a hero from a distant time and yet a hero for all times, the kind of hero who never gets old. I loved this book from the very beginning to the very end.”—Kathi Appelt, author of the National Book Award finalist & Newbery Honor book The Underneath "Stout uses an archly chummy direct address at several points, successfully and humorously breaking up tension in this cleareyed look at bad behavior by society....Successfully warmhearted and child-centered."—Kirkus Reviews "Through Frankie's thoughtful insights, Stout addresses injustices such as racism and xenophobia without turning didactic...the conclusion is a realistic mix of bittersweet and heartwarming."—Publishers Weekly "Fans of Augusta Scattergood’s Glory Be as well as those of Jeanne Birdsall’s Penderwicks series will enjoy this slice of history. A solid piece of historical fiction to add to middle grade collections."—School Library Journal "Tackling race, social justice, and even death, this well-paced novel will find the right audience among readers wanting fairness with their historical fiction."—BCCB "Young teens will enjoy Frankie’s spirit and humor while learning a little bit about people and prejudice along the way."—VOYA "In this coming-of-age story, Frankie sees people for who they really are, despite skin color or nationality. Readers who enjoy historical fiction will gravitate to this story."—School Library Connection

Is their love strong enough to weather the storm? It’s 1945, the war is over and the soldiers are coming back to the bomb-ravaged East End. Tom Smith is one of the thousands who are returning home. He can’t wait to see his wife, Jessie, their son, Billy, and the new baby daughter he hasn’t even laid eyes on. But life back home wasn’t easy, especially once Jessie’s army pension was stopped after Tom deserted. So when she was told to put her infant daughter Emma-Rose into a home for her own good, she thought it was for the best. But how will Tom take the news? And how will he react when he learns that Jessie’s old boyfriend has been helping her during the war? A compelling family drama set in London, perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Mary Collins.

The complete edition of Sylvia Plath's prose including much unpublished and previously uncollected material, edited by Peter K. Steinberg. The Collected Prose stands alongside the Journals (2000) and the two volume Letters (2017 and 2018) to support a more complete understanding of Sylvia Plath's ambition and achievement as a writer. Expanding on the selection published as Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams (1977), this volume draws together all of Sylvia Plath's shorter prose, much of which is previously uncollected and unpublished. The volume embraces her experiments with the short story and pieces of non-fiction from the 1940s through to her more polished compositions of the fifties and early sixties, including fragments of fiction as well as her journalism and book reviews. Themes and associations become apparent as the volume offers new, intertextual ways of reading across Plath's oeuvre, colouring and shading our understanding and appreciation of her extraordinary talent. From reviews of The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Volume I: 1940-1956 and Volume II: 1956-1963: 'Sylvia Plath was not only a great poet, she also forged some of the best prose of the twentieth century. . . she wrote letters of extraordinary wit and vivacity. Their publication is a major literary event.' The Times 'These letters are by turns poignant, revelatory, banal, hilarious and self-absorbed, documenting as they do the changing moods, ambitions and intellectual and creative development of one of the twentieth century's most celebrated poets. ' Evening Standard 'Such was the impact of [Plath's] exploration of both inner and outer landscapes in staggeringly intense, brutal and lyrical language that her loss to the literary world has been mourned ever since.' Financial Times