Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Timely and moving, 16 April 1999
By A Customer
This is a complicated book about responsibilty and disappointment. I was in tears by the end. I am a school librarian and this is the best book I read since "Afternoon of the Elves" about children set apart by differences. Even though it was set after WWII, I think it is very timely in regard to the violent behavior we unfortunately sometimes witness in children today. I agree with the previous reader, this author needs more recognition!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A very realistic book, 15 Jul 1999
By A Customer
The way this book was written was very good, and you see a pattern of bad grammar (it is being narrated by 21 6th grade girls). You see some exceptions, though, like Shazam (Shirley's) extremely bad grammar, and like Aki's extremely good grammar. The reason I say it is very realistic is that the view of the girls shows their feelings about how excited they are about Bat 6, and they are very honest in their narration. You probably know the basic plot from reading the descriptions, but the book is really mostly about the girls from Bear Creek Ridge Grade School and Barlow Road Grade School, and what they are doing in their lives to get ready for Bat 6, the annual softball game for 6th grade girls. The main narration takes place in 1949, after World War II has ended. Shazam (whose real name is Shirley) comes to Barlow Road Grade School, and the other girls think she is unusual, and she doesn't hide her hate for "Japs", people of Japanese descent. Her father was killed in Pearl Harbor, and she is living with her grandmother. Aki Mikami has gotten back from the camps for Japanese people (even Japanese people born in America) that the government sent them to. She is very good at softball, and on the day of Bat 6, the day all of the girls have been waiting for all their lives, Shazam's hate for "Japs" certainly comes out and Aki is seriously injured on her head; she must stay in a bed with a device on her head all summer and she can't eat solid food. The book is sad, but it is also informative, and it doesn't just use the characters as a device to convey an idea or seomthing. The characters are fully imaged and described. It shows what can happen when a person's problems are ignored. (Shazam never hid her hate, and everyone chose to ignore it, or not really do anything.) I strongly suggest you read this book. I read it because it was on a school reading list, but I am glad I did.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding and Realistic, 25 May 1999
By A Customer
Bat 6 is an outstanding novel set post WWII.It is very informative and has an excellent description from both sides: a young Japanese girl put in a camp because of her ancestry, and a young American girl who's father was killed on the Arizona, the ship bombed by Japan.Virginia Euwer Wolff does a wonderful job explaining what both girls go through and how they deal with their pain.But these aren't the only girls featured in this exquiset novel.There is Lola and her twin, Lila, Audrey, and Ila Mae, who have all been waiting for that day: May 28,1949, when it would be their turn to play in the 50th annual Bat 6 girls softball game.
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