How to use this Page

Ellen Wittlinger is familiar with the pain of rejection. The award-winning writer had been writing for many years before her first YA novel, Lombardo’s Law, was discovered in the slush pile by an editor at Houghton Mifflin and published in 1993. “You have to learn to steel yourself against taking it personally,” says Wittlinger, now the author of more than a dozen books and the winner of

This Means War!> Ellen Wittlinger

Juliet's best friend Lowell isn't talking to her anymore-- it's not ok for boys to be friends with girls anymore. Her parents are always fighting-- their small grocery store is suffering with the new supermarket that just went in on the outside of town. Then Juliet meets Patsy, one of the many new kids who have moved to town with the build up at Lathrop Airfore Base. Lowell and Juliet's fractured friendship quickly escalates into a girls vs boys war with a series of escalating tests to see who's better. The war between the kids and the tension of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which happens in the middle of it, is a parallel that works well, but gets rather heavy-handed as the book goes on.

It was really hard not to compare it to Countdown, which came out at the same time and also deals with a damaged friendship and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I think Countdown does it much better. This Means War really didn't do much to me--there was something about the writing that I can't put my finger on that kept me from really getting into the story.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

This Means War! by Ellen Wittlinger. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. April 2010. Reviewed from Advance Reviewer Copy from publisher. Middle grade.

The Plot: Juliet, ten, has lost her best friend, Lowell. Why? Because Juliet is a girl. Six years of friendship mean nothing, now that Lowell is friends with Tommy and Mike. Boys do boy stuff, she is told, and girls do girl stuff.

GO. AWAY. is the message.

Patsy, Juliet's new friend, isn't afraid of anything. Or anyone. One thing leads to another, and suddenly the boys and girls are challenging each other to see who is better, faster, stronger, braver. No matter the risk. No matter who gets hurt.

The Good: This fifth grade battle of the sexes plays out in October 1962, against the backdrop of Cuban Missile Crisis. Wittlinger lets the reader connect their own dots about the motivations and fears of the various kids and parents. For example, Patsy. Patsy adores her father, but he prefers spending quality time with his son, Patsy's younger brother. Patsy loves her father, is interested in what he is interested he, but he cannot see how a girl would be interested in mechanics and airplanes. Patsy never says that the reason she is driven to best the boys in the challenge is to prove something to herself and her father. Juliet never connects those dots, either. Instead, Wittlinger respects the reader, letting them make this connection.

While this would be a good "fiction and nonfiction" match up with Almost Astronauts by Tanya Lee Stone, This Means War is about more than sexism and feminism in the early 1960s.

Yes, Juliet is frustrated at the boys who start drawing lines about what boys like and girls like. Yes, Juliet doesn't see the appeal of giggling over boys, like her older sister Caroline or two girls in school, Annette and Linda. Yes, Patsy's dad echoes these thoughts.

But, Patsy dreams of being a pilot (and, as we know from Almost Astronauts, it wasn't an impossible dream). Other adults voice the belief that it's about what people like, not boys versus girls. And (spoiler alert!), by the end of This Means War, the two groups of boys and girls have gotten to know each other and become one group of friends. Also? This Means War is not critical of those boys who happen to like go carts or those girls who like to dance and giggle about boys. Oh, at the start, Juliet in her unhappiness is critical of Lowell's new friends and of her default friends, Annette and Linda. This changes by the end of the book.

This Means War is not just about the war between two groups of fifth graders; it's the war against prejudices, against fear of change, against the unknown, against oneself. Juliet's parents are at war, with progress and each other. They own a small family grocery store and are losing business to the new supermarkets; money is a frequent topic of argument. Her father is fru

This Means War! by Ellen Wittlinger. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. April 2010. Reviewed from Advance Reviewer Copy from publisher.

Juliet, ten, has lost her best friend, Lowell. Why? Because Juliet is a girl. Six years of friendship mean nothing, now that Lowell is friends with Tommy and Mike. Boys do boy stuff, she is told, and girls do girl stuff.

GO. AWAY. is the message.

Patsy, Juliet's new friend, isn't afraid of anything. Or anyone. One thing leads to another, and suddenly the boys and girls are challenging each other to see who is better, faster, stronger, braver. No matter the risk. No matter who gets hurt.

This fifth grade battle of the sexes plays out in October 1962, against the backdrop of Cuban Missile Crisis. Wittlinger lets the reader connect their own dots about the motivations and fears of the various kids and parents. This Means War is not just about the war between two groups of fifth graders; it's the war against prejudices, against fear of change, against the unknown, against oneself.

Teaser: A mini post about a book I've read that won't be published for several months. The full review will be posted closer to the publication date.


Amazon Affiliate. If you click from here to Amazon and buy something, I receive a percentage of the purchase price.

© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

Tomorrow I am leaving my job here at First Book, as well as my wonderful Advisory Board volunteers in the states of WA, ND, SD, GA and KY, to pursue a teaching career.  Since I started working at First Book a few months before the blog was born, I thought I would take a moment to look back at some of my favorite posts.

My first trip with First Book took me to Idaho where I had the opportunity to help with a First Book National Book Bank distribution and host a volunteer training session with staff member Elizabeth Matthews who would eventually help create First Book University.  Read all about the trip here.

Book Expo America came to DC in 2006, which meant our entire staff had the opportunity to take part in the festivities!  One crafty staff member set up a time lapse video camera over our booth, which I think captures the events’ bustle perfectly!

In September 2006, I had the pleasure of visiting the incredibly friendly and hospitable people of North Dakota… where we still do NOT have an Advisory Board… but that doesn’t mean I don’t have hope that a few spectacular volunteers will step up.  You can read all about my time in North Dakota to discover why it’s certainly more than just a “flyover state”.

This next one has a photo that I find really captures the whimsy of First Book’s staff members.  President Kyle Zimmer’s face is priceless in this photo!

Finally, the end of First Book’s “What Book Got YOU Hooked?” campaign meant that we got to see the top fifty favorite titles from people all around the nation and even the world!  My favorite, A Wrinkle In Time, took 25th place! Not too shabby!  Read about it here in case you missed it.

I have many more favorites, but I think I’ll stop at five.  Thank you all so much for taking this trip down memory lane with me via the First Book Blog!  My two years at First Book have been magical, but as I leave I look forward to continuing my support of this wonderful organization… and I hope you will continue to support it too… whether it’s with dollars, your own hands at a First Book National Book Bank distribution, or just by passing on an interesting blog post to your friends.  Take care!