A Less Than Perfect Peace by Jacqueline Sullivan - OPTIONAL

Sullivan, Jacqueline Levering A Less Than Perfect Peace, 207 p. Eerdman’s. 2014.  $Language: G (1 swear); Mature Content: G ; Violence: G.  $9. 

Annie’s father has been back from WWII for four years, but life is definitely not perfect.  Her father keeps himself pretty secluded because of his blindness and her mother has moved the family to a new town, with room for a carpentry shop for Dad and his brother Billy, but also Mom is opening her own beauty salon, giving herself some independence, and also stirring up tension between the couple.  At school, Annie befriends a handsome boy who has immigrated from Holland and his twin sister.  Having lived through the German occupation, they have secrets and wounds of their own.

While this book will not set the world on fire, it is a good look at the life of a family who is just trying to find their way with the every day stresses and their own baggage and friendships.  I wish the 1900’s were a part of the middle school curriculum, because I would enjoy talking the teachers into uses this as a class read or as a selection for a book group.  

EL, MS - OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS.