The Lovely War by Julie Berry - OPTIONAL

The Lovely War by Julie Berry, 480 pages.  Viking (Penguin), 2019.  $19.

Language: PG-13(swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: R (WWI violence, sniper)

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

When the god Hephaestus catches his wife Aphrodite in a compromising position with Ares, he captures the couple and demands a trial on Mount Olympus.  Aphrodite offers a comprise – she will tell her husband a story about true love – some of her finest work she says – and then Hephaestus can judge her.  She offers him the story of Hazel and James who meet just before James ships off for the killing fields of World War I.  They thought they’d have a week, but James is called up without even getting to say goodbye.  Then reliable Hazel decides to do her own thing for the war and joins the YMCA to help entertain the soldiers on base in France – at least she’s on the same side of the Channel as James.  The horrors of war – more than you can imagine -  will be visited upon them in full before their story finds some measure of peace.

Sometimes the interjections of the gods interfere with the flow Hazel and James’s story, but the long game between Aphrodite and Hephaestus will become just as important for sophisticated readers.  I know adults will love this and so will some of your students.  

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS