Hero Over Here (Once Upon America)
In the fall of 1918, ten-year-old Teddy would rather be fighting "over there" or ranching out West than be stuck nursing his influenza-stricken mother and sister. Worn down by the responsibility of caring for the invalids, he is tempted to hop a train to Montana. A chance encounter with a hobo who is ill and the decision to seek medical aid for him teaches Teddy that heroism has many different meanings. Dodson's black-and-white sketches nicely complement the story's events. However, even though Kudlinski has utilized her grandmother's reminiscences for background on the period, her effort to depict the influenza epidemic is not successful, for she does not develop the strong sense of time and place that historical fiction demands. She states the time frame and uses slang appropriate to the period, but these are not enough to create a strong setting. --Therese Bigelow, Hampton Public Library, VACopyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.