Books: In honor of Veteran’s Day, sharing the legacy of war with young readers

On the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 1918, the Allies and Germany met in Compiegne, France, to sign an armistice signaling the end of the war to end all wars. Ironically, the First World War set the stage for many of the 20th-century wars to follow, and the tragedy of those conflicts is chronicled in a number of fine books for young readers.

One of the best, most original books about war is Chris Crowe's remarkable new young-adult novel, "Death Coming Up the Hill." This story about a 17-year-old-boy named Ashe Douglas is set in 1968. Acutely aware of the war raging in Vietnam, Ashe is also caught up in the intense domestic battle between his mother and father, who detest one another but love their son.

Crowe explains one of his reasons for writing this particular book: "I became interested in 1968, one of the most turbulent years in the 20th century, for many reasons, not the least of which were the murders of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy. What stood out most, though, was the shadow the Vietnam War cast over everything else that happened that year. For American soldiers, 1968 was the deadliest year of the entire Vietnam War; 16,592 GIs died. That fact, combined with everything else going on in 1968, drew me into a story about a 17-year-old boy who's coming of age in that turbulent year and having to confront the heavy social issues surrounding him in 1968, including the very real risk of being drafted and shipped off to Vietnam."

In spite of its heavy subject matter, the novel is a quick read, in part due to its experimental format. Crowe tells the entire story in a series of linked haikus. "The novel started as prose, and as I was grinding out chapters, they seemed to get more and more boring. That's never a good sign," he jokes. So he began searching for ways to save the project.

As Crowe "plowed ahead," he began toying with the idea of using the number 17 — Ashe's age — in meaningful ways throughout the novel. Ashe's birthday, for example, is May 17, the same day the ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education was announced.

Says Crowe, "I wanted my character to have a connection to civil-rights history, even if he didn't realize it."

He looked for other ways to use the number 17 in telling his story: Ashe's father wore No. 17 as a college football player, while his mother's favorite song, The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There," includes the line "She was just 17."

And then it hit Crowe: Traditional haiku has 17 syllables. And what would happen if he divided the death toll for the year 1968 (there were 16,592) by 17? Could he take the result — 976 — and write Ashe's story using 976 haiku, totaling 16,592 syllables — a syllable for each soldier lost in that terrible deadly year?

The result — an entire novel written in haiku — is simply astonishing. Even more astonishing is the fact that the form doesn't feel gimmicky. In fact, the novel's structural tightness gives this heartbreaking story even more power.

After Crowe finished the novel, he became aware of even more ways in which the number 17 figures in the war's history. Vietnam, for example, was partitioned along the 17th parallel. And the bloody battle of Hamburger Hill was fought during the week of May 17, Ashe's fictional birthday.

As Nov. 11 approaches, here are some more titles to consider as we honor those who have served — and acknowledge the importance of sharing war's legacy with our youth.

"Harlem Hellfighters"

The stunning new picture book "Harlem Hellfighters" by J. Patrick Lewis (former U.S. children's poet laureate) follows the movements of the 369th Infantry Regiment, which was made up of black Americans from New York during a time of widespread racism in our country. This new title pairs beautifully with "The Harlem Hellfighters," a history (now in paperback) for young readers about the African-American men who fought during WWI, written by the late great Walter Dean Myers. Gary Kelley's illustrations add immensely to this book's appeal. Especially effective are the endpapers, lined with individual portraits of the regiment's soldiers.

"The Boy on the Wooden Box"

"The Boy on the Wooden Box" is a memoir written by one of the Jews whose life was saved by Oskar Schindler. At age 10, Polish citizen Leon Leyson left behind the life he'd always known when he was sent first to a ghetto and then to a concentration camp. "The Boy on the Wooden Box" is a true story about a harrowing childhood played out against the backdrop of war. Speaking of Schindler, Leyson says, "This complex man of many contradictions — Nazi opportunist, schemer, courageous maverick, rescuer, hero — had saved nearly 1,200 Jews from almost certain death."

"Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II"

Another fairly new nonfiction book, "Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II," examines the fate of Japanese Americans here in the United States during World War II. Author Martin Sandler pays particular attention to the impact internment had on children. "Perhaps most poignant of all," he writes, "was the statement made by a six-year-old. 'Mommy,' he exclaimed, 'Let's go back to America.' "

"The Children of Topaz"

Readers interested in this subject should check out an older nonfiction book, co-written by Utah author Michael O. Tunnell. "The Children of Topaz" tells the true story of those young people who spent their internment in Utah's west desert. Tunnell is also the author of "Candy Bomber," a nonfiction account of U.S. Air Force Lt. Gail Halvorsen, who dropped gum and chocolate from his aircraft to children during the Berlin Airlift.