HISTORICAL FICTION BLOG #2 THE ART OF KEEPING COOL

HISTORICAL FICTION BLOG #2: THE ART OF KEEPING COOL

Bibliographic Data

Lisle, Janet Taylor. 2000. THE ART OF KEEPING COOL. New York,NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN: 0-689-83787-9

Plot Summary

This historical fiction book for teens is set in Rhode Island in 1942 during World War II while Nazi submarines are torpedoing U.S. ships off the coast. Thirteen year old Robert has moved with his mother and younger sister from Ohio to stay with his Grandpa’s house in Rhode Island while his father is off fighting in the war. He gets to be friends with his cousin Elliot, a budding artist who keeps his talent hidden. Together they attempt to solve a few mysteries: why will Grandpa never speak of Robert’s father? And what is Abel Hoffman, a famous German artist doing living as a recluse in the backwoods?

Critical Analysis

The setting is vividly described. When Robert and his younger sister Carolyn sneak off to hear the big guns fire off for military exercise you can almost hear the explosions and see the fiery field ablaze almost to the beach embankment. The characters are real and believable. Elliot has a quiet and meek demander, Grandpa is stubborn and almost ruthless self, and Robert is hard working, curious and kind. One of the most interesting characters is Abel Hoffman, who is mysterious at first, but as his character develops we are able to see the war from a different point of view. The climax of the plot comes very near the end of the book and I felt that it was wrapped up a little quickly in the last chapter. I would have liked to get to know the fathers character a little more or seen more resolution between the father and grandfather. But you know what, there are not always nicely packaged endings in real life and this piece of historical fiction stays true to that.

Review Excerpt(s)

From Publishers Weekly
"This wrenching WWII novel traces the relationship between two 13-year-old American boys and a German-born Expressionist painter reputed to be a spy. The intimate first-person narrative brings universal themes of prejudice and loss to a personal level." Ages 10-14. (May) Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Like Hahn's Stepping on the Cracks (1991), this is a powerful story of World War II at home, told by a young teenager who comes to question both friends and enemies and finds the dark inside himself. Robert is excited by the hometown military maneuvers and threatening submarines near his grandparents' New England village, where he's living while his dad's away fighting the Nazis. But the battle inside his family is scarier than the military exercises. Why Robert’s father is never mentioned? What's the secret of why he left as a teenager and never came back? And why does Robert's friend and cousin, Eliot, cower before their raging grandfather? Shy, artistic Eliot has dangerous secrets, too: he's helping a German painter, Abel Hoffman, who lives in a shack near the beach. Is Abel a Nazi spy, as the angry mob in the village believes? To Robert's lasting shame, he helps them track the fugitive, then he hears about the Nazi mobs that attacked "degenerative" writers and artists like Abel and burned their work. Is the U.S. any different? Lisle weaves together the thrilling war action and the spy mystery with the battles in Robert's family and Robert's personal struggle with anger, jealousy, guilt, and betrayal. There's nothing reverential about the portrait of the gifted "crackpot" artist; in fact, all the characters are drawn with subtlety and depth (except, perhaps, the demonized Grandpa). Like Abel's expressionist art, Lisle's story shows and tells what's behind the appearances of things, the "hidden feelings and memories, terrors and passions . . . everyone knows are there but cannot speak about." Hazel RochmanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.


Connections
A Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Harry Mazer
The Last Mission by Harry Mazer