Cracker starts out life as a championship show dog, but then a broken leg sends her to twelve-year-old Willie and his family as a pet. But when Willie can’t keep her, she becomes a U. S. Army dog, assigned to newly-enlisted teenager, Rick Hanski. And there, they bond so tightly that they both end up surviving the horrors of the Vietnam War.

Mr. E and I loved this book, although I think it was for very different reasons. It was a hard sell for me at first. The style it’s written in reminded me of books from when I was kid. More description, more characters, more shifts of points of view, more…distance from what is happening. I’m not sure how to describe it. But it took me a while to connect to the story. And, anyway, it didn’t seem to bother Mr. E in the least. He loved the action and the single-mindedness of Cracker. I loved this window into the Vietnam War. There aren’t many kids’ books that are set in Vietnam during the war (I think I’ve only read Fallen Angels) and because of that, it was powerful and eye-opening for both of us. It also made Mr. E and I give our two dogs some extra loving every night. Even if they barely come when they are called, much less sniff out booby traps and save hundreds of lives.

Of course, that’s not all When the Whistle Blows is about. It’s also about a small railroad town on the brink of extinction with the coming of the diesel engines. It’s about a headstrong boy growing up. And mostly, it’s about a son learning to love and respect his father as a person. In fact, it was some of these deeper themes that made Mr. E stumble. He’s used to reading books with clear-cut obvious conflicts and goals: a quest to get the golden chalice!, defeat the evil villain and save the world as we know it!, solve the mystery before the clock runs out! When we finished When the Whistle Blows, Mr. E paused and said, “I liked it, but I don’t really get what that book was about. I mean, I know what Jimmy wanted in each chapter, but what was the point of the whole book?” And then we proceeded to have a wonderful conversation about characters and people changing and growing up. It was lovely. Thank you, Fran Cannon Slayton.

More About When the Whistle Blows

• School Library Journal article
• Washington Post review
• Discussion Guide
• Fran Cannon Slayton’s website
• Video interview with the author

One of our editors at Lerner blogged about Don and me and our Follow That Food Chain series today over on the Lerner Publishing blog. Here’s the link. I’ll be posting there in the next couple weeks about the story behind our series.

I was especially exicted to see the photo of us signing our books. Mr. E was in charge of taking pictures for us that day, but as soon as we got there, he was totally sucked in by Lerner’s Graphic Myths and Legends series (librarians, they’re way cool–take a peek inside one here). He found a table and read the whole time, and we realized later we were picture-less. So, thanks, Ann!

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Out of the huge stack of books my boys collected at the ALA conference last week, this was the very first one that Mr. E (10) picked up and devoured. I know why. With science gadgets you wish were real, a secret club with a way cool hideout/lab in a hidden basement, and three underdog kids saving the world from an evil genius–all told in a graphic novel format by the creator of the Geisel-honor Stinky, no less–it basically screams “boy book!” But even better, it lived up to all Mr. E’s expectations because he wasn’t letting go of it until he got to the last page.

When I got my hands on it, I had to agree with him. Besides all the cool stuff mentioned above, there’s lots of humor and details in the illustrations and three main characters who, despite their outward differences, really let their mutual love for science shine through. (There are really not enough books out there where the science stars and math whizzes get to be the heroes.)

Can’t wait to put it on my library shelves and watch other kids snatch it up.

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Mr. E: [crunching breakfast] You know how boys aren’t smart at school?

Me: [slightly panicky and defensive] Huh? What do you mean? Boys are just as smart as girls.

Mr. E: Well, you know how boys in books are never “the smart ones?”

Me: Hmmm.

And this little conversation has got me thinking. He’s kind of right. You know, there’s Harry, who’s smart….but then there’s Hermione, who’s brilliant. Where are the smart boys? In recent books? So far I’m coming up with brave boys, boys willing to take a stand, resourceful boys, clever boys, but none who are just the plain, straight-A, good-at-school, “smart ones.”

I know they’re out there. Can you help me out with a list?