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What to expect

Margaret and her best friend Elizabeth both have brothers fighting the war against Hitler and, like everyone else they know, they are filled with feelings of patriotism. But the girls are also involved in their own personal war at home. Gordy Smith, the worst bully in the sixth grade, teases and torments them, and Margaret is scared to death of him. But when Gordy and his pals Toad and Doug grow bolder than ever, Margaret and Elizabeth come up with a daring plan to get even. That's when the girls discover a shocking secret about Gordy that turns their lives upside down and draws them into a startling confrontation with family, friends, and their own strongly held ideas.

Critics Review

  • “The ever-popular World War II genre gains new depth in Hahn’s painfully honest story about a sixth-grade girl in small-town Maryland…As in the best political fiction, there are no simple messages. Everything is rooted in story and character and in a view of the landscape where categories waver in the heat, blur in the snow.”

    Booklist (starred review)

  • “Subtle, thought provoking…Hahn succeeds in raising questions as valuable as they are vexing.”

    Publishers Weekly

  • “There is plenty of action and page-turning suspense to please those who want a quick read, but there is much to ponder and reflect on as well.”

    School Library Journal

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