Children's Wartime Adventure Novels: The Silent Generation's Vicarious Experience of World War II

Experience World War II like an American twelve-year-old. From Cherry Ames and Ann Bartlett nursing in war zones from the Pacific to Europe, from aviators Dave Dawson and Stan Wilson in aerial dogfights with the enemy, the middle-grade and teen readers growing up in the early 1940s received through these characters an amazing window on a world at war. The World War II-themed series novels discussed in this book were their companions in the baffling and exciting era of their already normally angst-ridden pre-teen and teen years. These books provided entertainment, inspiration, education, and indoctrination of a kind as to what would be expected of them as kids in support of the war effort and what kind of adults they should strive to be. They grew up to be called The Silent Generation, known for conformity, respect for rules, and a quiet but determined work ethic that never left them. See how the adventures in the wartime children's books they read shaped their knowledge of the world and formed their ideals.