Kid Soldier - by Jennifer Maruno (Paperback)

About the Book

Infatuated with the army life he experienced at a training camp under an assumed name, 15-year-old Richard Fuller enlists in World War II and travels to England, where he gets the complete picture of the military scene.

Book Synopsis

Fatherless fifteen-year-old Richard is befriended by a former military man in St. Catharines, Ontario. After attending army summer training camp in 1939, he joins the army at the start of the Second World War, lying about his age. He ships out to Britain for training. There he witnesses the Battle of Britain and is wounded during the Blitz.

Review Quotes

[Jennifer Maruno] provides many interesting details of the daily lives of both civilians and military, in Canada and England. This replaces the more dramatic battle scenes expected in a WWII novel, and Maruno's strength is the research.

Maruno creates a well-realized world for Richard and her readers in every setting she places him, be it the humid house where his mother does her laundry work or the tense scouting and air-raid scenes in England.

Maruno excels at presenting scenes, rather than telling readers what to think.

Maruno's attention to detail and loyalty to source material adds significant verisimilitude to the historical setting.

About the Author

Jennifer Maruno is a long-time educator. Her debut novel, When the Cherry Blossoms Fell, was shortlisted for the Hackmatack Award and the Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Readers Choice Award. She is also the author of Warbird, Cherry Blossom Winter, and Kid Soldier. She lives in Burlington, Ontario.