The poverty of the Great Depression and lead up to WWII has crushed much of the life out of Millie McGonigle's family. Her grandmother died and Millie feels the loss keenly, recording all the dead things she finds in Mission Beach in her little book. Her father lost his regular job and Millie feels pressured to comb the beach or fish or do something, anything, to help feed the family. She'd prefer to bring home anything other than perch, which she's sick to death of, but that's what the Bay provides, despite most of her attempts to find something else.
To make matters worse, Cousin Edna, who lives with them, has vaguely pro-German Nazi sentiments and is constantly defending the Germans and Hitler's aggressions in Europe. Much to Millie's embarrassment, people think her aunt could be a German spy.
Millie and a neighbor boy, Richard, whom she calls "Icky" (Millie's not always the nicest character), exchange barbs and pranks. In the midst of it all, Millie meets a new girl, Rosemary Fribble, whose mother is sick, but she's daring and walks the beach in nice clothes and eats bacon and peanut butter sandwiches. They spend time admiring the beach life, aka Rocky, a local 20-something surfer who's ripped (although they don't use that term) and quite the head-turner.
Millie tries to win money for the family by writing product jingles, little memorable ditties about various things for sale, and she wins a whole $5! Then her little sister Lilly gets sick and it all goes to pay the doctor. Millie tries to collect rubber and scrap metal, but folks are so poor there's nothing left to collect.
Anti-Japanese sentiments surge with the attack on Pearl Harbor and Millie learns, from watching her mother, how to stand up to bigots and do what she knows is right in her heart. In the end, her book of dead things is converted to a different kind of book, altogether.
It's not a typical WWII story for middle grade readers, but it does capture exceptionally well the milieu and the southern California setting.
Enjoy!
