Of Books and Boys and Other Stuff

Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata

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.

With its moody, atmospheric cover, When the Whistle Blows may not be the first book boys and kids will reach for. Mr. E was skeptical when I first brought it home as our next read-together. But it didn’t take much convincing. As soon as I mentioned football championships, tricking the nasty school principal, and Halloween pranks gone awry, he was willing to give it a chance. Then we read the first chapter (we always read the first chapter and rank it from 1-10. Anything higher than a 6 from both of us gets a second chapter read). Chapter One was a secret society meeting with a corpse on All Hallow’s Eve! We were hooked.

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

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?