A Million Shades of Grey by Cynthia Kadohata

This is the UK cover from Simon and Schuster

This is the US cover

This story opens in 1973 in the Highlands of South Vietnam. The war is all around the village of Y'Tin but somehow his family are going on with their daily lives. Y'Tin's father is working for the US army as a tracker and his son has this skill too but all Y'Tin wants to do is look after the elephants - especially Lady. Jump forward to 1975. The US army have left and Y'Tin is now an elephant keeper but the war is not over and there are discussions among the adults about the desperate need to leave before the soliders from the North and the Viet Cong arrive. Then comes the terrible day when the soldier do come and T'Tin and his friends are captured. He desperately hopes his mother and father and two sisters have escaped. The following few days are utterly dreadful. People from his village are shot; their houses are burned down and the boys from the village have to dig huge grave pits. Somehow though, Y'Tin and a friend do manage to escape and deep in the jungle they are reunited with their elephants. Sadly though, there is more trouble ahead. 

You can read the blurb and a book extract on the publisher page. And here is the author page. A Million Shades of Grey was published in 2010 but it is still available.  I also found this list of five middle grade novels also about the Vietnam War. If you select the label either Vietnam or Vietnam War from this post you will find some picture books that are well worth exploring too. 

A fascinating window into post–Vietnam War history and a wonderfully intimate character study. Kirkus

Though the setting might be unfamiliar to young readers, Kadohata does a good job describing it without overloading her narrative with political details. Y’Tin’s inner monologues make it easy to sympathize with his character and to understand the events in his life. ... some of the more violent scenes and allusions to war crimes might be difficult for readers ... Historical Novel Society

If you have students in your school studying the Vietnam War then this book should be added to their wide reading book list. It gives another perspective on that conflict and is set just after the US army have left and the North have begun their invasion. Reading this book (for ages 11+) will take some reading stamina because the action doesn't really kick in until around page 75.

If you are interested in reading other books about care of elephants and the special bond that forms between these huge creatures and humans look for these:

The Magician's Elephant

The what on earth institute of wonder

The Elephant in the Room

The Great Elephant Chase

Singing with elephants

The Girl who Stole an Elephant

I picked this book, A million Shades of Grey, in a library because I previously enjoy two other books by Cynthia Kadohata - Kira-Kira and Weedflower. A couple of years ago I read this one:

Half a world away

The Endless Sea by Chi Thai illustrated by Linh Dao

"The war was over, but life wasn't easier. Everyone was hungry. Everyone was afraid. My family were punished for being on the losing side of the war - our relatives went missing. Every day felt like it could be our last."

Now we move onto the people smugglers. The family sell all their precious things and pay a man who pays a man who speaks to another man and then finally it is time to leave - at night, in secret. After days of travel they reach a boat but it is old, wooden and extremely overloaded. The food runs out. The water runs out. It begins to rain and the boat begins to sink. 

"As the water inched higher and higher, I imagined sinking with the boat and disappearing into the sea. It would be as if we were never here, or never existed."

A ship comes to their rescue but in a heart-wrenching moment the crew hesitate to rescue the refugees. And this is only the beginning of their journey to a new city, a refugee camp, a long plane flight and finally a bust to their new home. 

In the background notes you will read how the experiences explained in this picture book actually happened to Chi Thai. You should also linger over the cover and end papers. This is an important and poignant picture book with a heartfelt personal story that should be added to your school library collection.

A poignant reflection on one refugee’s experience. Kirkus

The specific context is helpful, but even without, it’s an affecting story, a reminder that the refugee experience is unfortunately common enough to be believable even without all the details. The narrator’s voice is clipped but sympathetic, as she conveys the sequence of her journey with a matter-of-fact approach that still leaves room for emotion. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

This moving, visually compelling story about one refugee family’s experiences is a powerful testament to fostering compassion and understanding. Horn Book

Chi Thai is a British Vietnamese independent filmmaker. She is a BIFA nominated producer and a Screen International Star of Tomorrow. She directed and produced the short film adaptation of award-winning Walker title The Promise by Nicola Davies and Laura Carlin. The Endless Sea is her debut picture book.

Linh Dao is an award-winning illustrator and animator. Having been born in Vietnam she is now based in in Brno, Czech Republic.

I have begun collecting picture books that explore the refugee experience in preparation for an IBBY Australia talk later this year. Our Australian Standing orders have a selection of International titles and that is where I first saw a reference to this book. Then I was visiting Gleebooks and able to read The Endless Sea for myself - realising it was a perfect picture book to add to my collection. I am not a fan of endorsements but there are two very powerful ones on the back cover of this book:

• "These are the stories we must tell on behalf of those who can't." Shaun Tan
• "What a powerful book!" Michael Rosen

Companion books:

Out

Then and Now

Grandma's Treasured Shoes

Wishes

Escape

A Different Pond by Bao Phi illustrated by Thi Bui

"a powerful, multilayered story about family, memory, and the costs of becoming a refugee". Kirkus Star review

"Both my parents worked multiple jobs to survive and support us in a country whose people did not understand why we were here at best, and blamed us for the aftermath of the war at worst. My father would sometime take us fishing with him, before the sun came up - for food, not for sport." Bao Phi

A Different Pond won a Caldecott Honour in 2018. I would share this book with older readers aged 10+. 

Bookseller blurb: Acclaimed poet Bao Phi delivers a powerful, honest glimpse into a relationship between father and son and between cultures, old and new. A Different Pond is an unforgettable story about a simple event--a long-ago fishing trip. As a young boy, Bao Phi awoke early, hours before his father's long workday began, to fish on the shores of a small pond in Minneapolis. Unlike many other anglers, Bao and his father fished for food, not recreation. A successful catch meant a fed family. Between hope-filled casts, Bao's father told him about a different pond in their homeland of Vietnam. The New York Times has said that Bao Phi's poetry "rhymes with the truth." Together with graphic novelist Thi Bui's striking, evocative art, Phi's expertly crafted prose reflects an immigrant family making its way in a new home while honoring its bonds to the past.

Image source: Let's Talk Picture Books

Spare and simple, a must-read for our times. Kirkus Star review

Can I recommend you read this book more than once. There are plot fragments in so many of the lines of text - small statements that belies huge issues or past stories.

Read these and in brackets I have added my interpretation:

"In the kitchen the bare bulb ... " (The family cannot afford to add decorations such as light covers and it may be that they are renting this very basic home).

"to me his English sounds like gentle rain". (This boy is proud of his dad and he intuitively understands his dad has had to learn a new language in this strange land. It is fantastic that this young boy can ignore the awful comments by the school bullies).

"I got a second job". (Dad is hard working and really wants to provide for his family. He is willing to work long hours and on weekends so their fishing expedition has to happen well before dawn. We also read that mum has to work all day on Saturday too).

"I feel the callouses on his hand when he squeezes mine". (Dad is hard worker - and his work is a form on manual labour. I wonder if, given different opportunities he might have been able to complete higher levels of education and perhaps have a 'better' or more highly paid job).

"One day, his brother didn't come home". (This is a fragment about the events of the Vietnam war and the devastating impact of this on his father).

"I wonder what the trees look like at that other pond in the country my dad comes from". (This sums up the power of this story).

Companion books:

Read more here.

The Hidden Hat by Phil Cummings illustrated by Jennifer Goldsmith

From Phil Cummings webpage:

While playing hide-and-seek at Grandpa’s house, Lucy and Mitch find a hat, hidden away in a deep, dark corner. It’s Grandpa’s hat, filled with memories … In this moving story of rediscovery, truth and mateship, a hidden hat stirs memories of a grandfather’s days serving in Vietnam … 

Phil’s brother-in-law served in Vietnam, at Nui Dat in 1968/69, and the book has been dedicated to him.

Book design - Notice:

• End papers are filled with Rosemary.
• Army Helicopters on the title page
• Seasonal references - April is Autumn here in Australia and April is the month of ANZAC Day
• The subtle change of colours to show present day and past times in Vietnam
• The very young faces of the soliders
• Poppy flowers for remembrance

Take a look at my previous post about ANZAC day books. I did write this ten years ago so there are sure to be other books to use for ANZAC day with your library group that have been published more recently. The Hidden Hat was published in March, 2024 so it is brand new! And many school libraries will have this book as it was supplied with some of our Standing Order services. This book is a perfect addition to a library because it looks at a different war - Vietnam and also it is a book that is accessible for very young children aged 6+.  Here are some others for older students.

And for a different perspective try to find this moving story:

Here are the teachers notes from Scholastic for The Hidden Hat. You should read The Hidden Hat alongside this book also by Phil Cummings which also has a duel narrative:

Read more here

You could also take a look at this very special book which also features hats and a grandfather by Phil Cummings:

Newspaper Hats

Here are other books illustrated by Jennifer Goldsmith:

The Golden Day by Ursula Dubosarsky

The year is 1967. We meet eleven young girls in Grade Four. Their school is a posh one with hats and strict uniform rules. Their classroom is at the top of an old building. There are lots of stairs, 67 in fact, to navigate if anyone decides to venture up there. Miss Renshaw is their teacher. Today she shares some rather shocking (especially when you consider these girls are very young) news with her class that a man named Ronald Ryan has been hanged in Melbourne. Melbourne feels like a far off land to these girls from Sydney.

Their teacher declares the girls will walk to the park today. Across the road from the school there is a green oasis named The Ena Thompson Memorial Gardens. Miss Renshaw tells the girls they will go there to write poetry but ...

"They all knew, even tiny, big-eyed Bethany knew, the real reason Miss Renshaw wanted to go into the gardens that morning. It was not to think about death. Miss Renshaw wanted to see Morgan."

Morgan works in the gardens. "He had beautiful eyes, soft brown, wet with tears, like a stuffed toy."

Over the coming weeks the girls and their teacher make regular visits to the park. Until one day Morgan takes them all to see a cave, only accessible at low tide, and it is on that day that their teacher disappears.

If you loved the movie and book Picnic at Hanging Rock you will thoroughly enjoy A Golden Day. It is quick read with only 150 pages - almost a novella. 

Take a look here to read a selection of review comments. 

Delicately scripted with little sequestered hooks that add up through the book to provide a softly haunting mood, The Golden Day is visual, questioning, subtle and dreamlike, which only adds to its eerie feel. Dubosarsky's well-rounded characters are charming and evocative. The author has an indelible knack for painting with words - her visual language is a joy to immerse yourself in ...  Kids' Book Review

Dubosarsky has eloquently crafted a coming-of-age mystery novel, inspired by art and news stories in Australia. She shows the impact of this tragedy in beautiful language and carefully formed characters. The girls are inquisitive, loyal, and bewildered. As Robert Frost declares, “nothing gold can stay” – and the same is true for this golden day. The days of innocence end and the girls must face the harshness of their loss. Historical Novel Society

Through precise, vivid descriptions, the third-person narrative evokes the contrast between the girls’ cloistered school lives and the hard realities of the outside world. The students are “eleven schoolgirls in their round hats, with their socks falling down, hand in hand, like a chain of paper dolls”; meanwhile, soldiers are dying in Vietnam, and prisoners are being hanged at home. Kirkus

January is turning into a month of nostalgia. I seem to be mainly reading older books (many or most of which are now out of print). The Golden Day was published in 2011 and short listed by the Children's Book Council of Australia for the Older Readers Award in 2012. There are two covers above one from the original paperback by Zoe Sadokierski and the other is the US reprint from 2015. I happy to say it is still in print. 

This book has a Young Adult feel but really I think a mature Grade 6 reader would enjoy the delicious tension and the intriguing mystery. I started reading this book on the train in the morning and finished it on the return journey - yes it is that good - in fact I was so absorbed I almost missed my stop.  The final section of the book is set in 1975 and the events on that day where we meet the girls, now in the final year of high school, are certain to shock you.

The chapters in this book are named after painting by Charles Blackman. I was also surprised to see my charity sale copy had been signed by Ursula herself in December, 2016 to a girl named Megan. 

Ursula Dubosarsky says: "The idea became at least 30 years ago, when I saw Charles Blackman's wonderful Floating school girl in the National Gallery in Canberra. It's a painting of a surreal schoolgirl in hat and tunic floating above the city in the darkness - like an image from an urban Picnic at Hanging Rock. The flying child may be frightened, but she's also brimming with the joy of a secret life."

Here are a set of very detailed teachers notes from the publisher Allen and Unwin. 

When Zachary Beaver came to town by Kimberly Willis Holt

Blurb: "Toby Wilson is having the toughest summer of his life. It's the summer his mother leaves for good. The summer his best friend's brother is serving in Vietnam. And the summer Zachary Beaver, the fattest boy in the world, arrives in Toby's sleepy Texas town. While it's a summer filled with heartache, it's also a summer of new friendships gained and old friendships renewed. And it's Zachary Beaver who turns the town of Antler upside down and leaves everyone, especially Toby, changed forever."

I was sad to read about Zachary Beaver and the way he is used by this man called Paulie Rankin. Poor Zachary sits behind a plexiglass screen and people pay to enter the trailer to gawk at him. When Paulie left my emotions turned to worry. Who would look after Zachary? He seemed to be way too large to even get out of the trailer and what about his personal hygiene and the sewerage waste tank under the trailer. Luckily Toby and his friend Cal and later other people in the town do drop food at the trailer door for Zachary and after nearly a week the kind Sheriff organises for the pump out man to empty that tank. Toby and Cal are curious about Zachary but their curiosity has a level of kindness. They visit Zachary and gain his trust and listen to his fanciful travel stories but they also want to help Zachary. I was so thrilled when they organised a way to extricate him from his trailer 'prison' and take him to a drive-in movie. I won't give you details of the second time Zachary leaves the trailer but is also very moving.

There are fabulous character descriptions in this book:

"The skinny guy selling tickets moves to the top step in front of the trailer door. Even though he smokes a pipe, his baby face, braces, and tux make him look like he's ready for eighth grade formal. From the front his hair looks short, but he turns and I notice a ponytail hangs down his back."

"In the middle of the trailer sits the largest human being I've ever seen. Zachary Beaver is the size of a two-man pup tent. His short back hair tops his huge moon face like a snug cap that's two sizes too small. His skin is the colour of buttermilk and his hazel eyes are practically lost in his puffy cheeks."

"Ferris leans against the counter, where the bowling shoes are kept, rubbing his long Elvis sideburns. With is shirtsleeves rolled up, his two tattoos are visible. One is an anchor, and the other is a hula girl."

I'm not sure if this book will appeal to every Australian reader (aged 11+) but I loved it from the first to last page. I was totally immersed in the world of this small Panhandle town in Texas with its stores such as Ferris Kelly's Bowl-a-Rama; Earline's Real Estate Agency; and Clifton's Dry Goods. I also loved learning about the role of ladybirds in the control of pests, specifically Bollworms, in cotton crops. It is such a heartwarming scene when everyone gathers to release the ladybirds. Especially as this comes after the sadness of losing Cal's brother Wayne. 

At turns passionate and humorous, this extraordinary novel deals sensitively and candidly with obesity, war, and the true power of friendship. Kimberly Willis Holt

A master at finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, the author peoples her town with a quiet postmaster/worm-raising father, aspiring country-singer mother, watchful sheriff, eccentric judge, town historian Miss Myrtie Mae, flirt Scarlett, and, at the center of it all, sensitive narrator Toby Wilson and his sidekick, best friend Cal. Kirkus

I think this book might have been on the shelf of my local bookshop for quite a few years so I feel very lucky to have discovered it. When Zachary Beaver came to town was first published in 1999 my paperback copy was published in 2007. I now discover a new edition of this book was published in April this year. This book was the National Book Award winner in 1999.

Here are a set of teaching ideas and questions. I did look at part of the movie based on this book but it did not appeal to me - the characters looked way too young. 

I would pair this book with The Small adventure of Popeye and Elvis.

And if you a another book that explores the grief connected with the loss of a young life during the Vietnam war take a look at Footprints on the Moon (a new Australian verse novel) and The Wednesday Wars.

Here are some other novels by Kimberly Willis Holt:

Thanks to the prolific reviewer Karen Yingling I now discover there is a sequel to When Zachary Beaver came to Town. 

Footprints on the Moon by Lorraine Marwood

It is 1969. In this verse novel Lorraine Marwood revisits world events at this time - the Vietnam War and the imminent Moon Landing. She explores events here in Australia - conscription and it's effect on young men and their families. And gives her readers a personal perspective when she introduces us to the Burley family who experience dreadful loss during 1969 when their loved grandmother who has been showing signs of early dementia, suddenly dies.

Young Sharnie Burley has now moved to high school. She has to navigate old and new friendships, deal with the loss of her beautiful grandmother who was her closest friend and she also has to make sense of the conflicting views in her family. Her teenage sister Cas has met a young returned soldier and she now has strong views against Australia's involvement in Vietnam. Dad supports the war because he proud of the service by his own father during World War II. Sharnie's new friend Gail has an even closer connection to this conflict because her brother has recently been killed in Vietnam.

Footprints on the Moon will be published tomorrow! I was excited to discover that I had read this new Australian verse novel just one day before it will hit the bookshop shelves. I recommend this book for readers aged 10+ and junior high school students who are studying Australia's involvement in the Vietnam war. Here are a set of very detailed teachers notes to use with Footprints on the Moon.

The best verse novels contain emotional stories and this is certainly true of Footprints on the Moon. The relationship between Sharnie and her precious grandmother is beautifully described. You may want to make a tray of  Peanut Brittle (recipe is included), prepare a cup of tea and find an older family member who can share their own memories with you.  I could really identify with Sharnie and her classmates squashed into a small classroom to watch Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. I clearly remember this day when we all squashed into a double classroom in my Primary school peering at the distant and very small television screen:

On Friday 

the announcement 

crackled over 

the loudspeaker:

'Man on the moon, 

view and be part 

of history. 

Two TV sets 

will be available 

to watch 

in the home domestic rooms, 

the largest spaces in the school 

but if you can 

watch it at home, then do 

so, you have permission 

to go home at lunch break, 

just bring a note from your parents,' 

says Mr Grear.

I think of Grandma

how she would have loved

this moment, wondering

about those three astronauts

training, working, waiting ...

There have been a few nostalgic novels published recently which will appeal to thoughtful readers who have an interest in the past.

52 Mondays

Catch a falling Star

You might also look for this fabulous book which was recently awarded a Newbery Honour.

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

This book is "just swell"

Holling Hoodhood has Mrs Baker as his English teacher. He is sure she hates him - that's HATES with all capital letters. This situation is made worse by the fact that Holling has to spend every Wednesday afternoon with Mrs Baker and more importantly Mrs Baker has to spend every Wednesday afternoon with Holling - she calls him Mr Hoodhood - and this is all because he happens to be Presbyterian.

On Wednesdays half the class go to Temple Beth-El for Hebrew school and the other half to Saint Adelbert's for Catechism.  Holling gets to stay at school with Mrs Baker. Yes every Wednesday for the whole year.

After a few weeks of cleaning the classroom and the blackboard dusters (it is 1968) and a small disaster with the class rats -  Mrs Baker decides Holling will read Shakespeare plays and answer quiz questions (there are 150 of them each time). What Mrs Baker perhaps does not expect is that Holling loves this. He is an intelligent boy and he is well read. We know has has read Treasure Island four times, Kidnapped twice and The Call of the Wild. Reading the plays adds a whole new dimension of enjoyment for Holling. He particularly enjoys the language of Shakespeare especially the insults. He even scores a part in the local amateur production wearing yellow tights and feathers.

There is a lot going on the Holling. His dad is just awful. He is an ambitious man who wants to win every architect contract in the town. He has no time for his son. His mother just seems ineffectual and, can I say, simpering.  Then we have the cast of school bullies especially Doug Swieteck and his brother.

Characters
Mr Guareschi Principal
"Mr Guareschi's long ambition had been to become dictator of a small country. Danny Hupfer said that he had been waiting for the CIA to get rid of Fidel Castro and then send him down to Cuba, which Mr Guareschi would then rename Guareschiland."

Mrs Baker Teacher
She seems to only focus on the lessons but underneath a lot is going on for her especially in relation to her son who has been deployed to Vietnam.

Meryl Lee Kowalski Student
Her dad runs the other architect firm in town. Her relationship and friendship with Holling slowly develops - it is a beautiful thing to watch.

Mai Thi Student originally from Vietnam

Danny Hupfer Student
I wish he was my friend. The scene when he insults the famous baseball player after this guy insults Holling is just splendid.

Rats Sycorax and Caliban (from The Tempest)
The parts in this story about the rats are not for the faint hearted - you have been warned.

Coach Quatrini
Favourite expression "At tempo".

Mrs Bigio School Cook
When you read the final scenes in this book you will understand why, for me, Mrs Bigio is a true hero. And it is the actions of Mrs Bigio when she makes nuoc mau for the class and for Mai Thi that made me cry.

Heather Holling's sister
Her voice in this story is so important as a way to understand the complex politics of this time.

Laughs
The names of the school textbooks - English for you and me; Mathematics for you and me; Geography for you and me.
The English concepts taught by Mrs Baker - diagramming sentences such as "He kicked the round ball into the goal." "The girl walked home." 

And this one for Holling - "For it so falls out, that we have we prize not to the worth whiles we enjoy it; but being lacked and lost, why, then we rack the value, then we find the virtue that passion would not show us while it was ours."

"No native speaker of the English language could diagram this sentence.  The guy who wrote it couldn't diagram this sentence. ... 'If you had been listening to my instructions, you should have been able to do this,' said Mrs Baker, which is sort of like saying that if you've ever flicked on a light switch, you should be able to build an atomic reactor."

Atomic Bomb Awareness Month
"We stayed under our desks for eighteen minutes, until the wind would have whisked away the first waves of airborne radioactive particles, and the blast of burning air would have passed overhead ... and every living thing would have been incinerated except for us because we were scrunched under our gummy desks with our hands over our heads, breathing quietly and evenly."

This book has it all!  I laughed, I nearly cried, I marveled at the references to Shakespeare and US History, I cheered when things went the right way for Holling and I cringed (big time) when things went horribly wrong for Holling. If I knew him in person I'm sure I would reach out and give him a big hug of reassurance. Boy oh boy life has thrown some hideous curve balls at this kid.  Read this part again and then marvel at the fact that I am an adult, woman, in Australia, with absolutely no knowledge of baseball. I am not a American adolescent and yet  I loved this book so so so much! I'm visiting some adult readers this week and I would love them to read this book so I think The Wednesday Wars will appeal to readers 12+ and to all adults.

At its heart this is a book about relationships. Every relationship is special in this story but the best one in my view is the one between Holling and Mrs Baker.

The Wednesday Wars was a Newbery Honor book in 2008. It is considered an American classic so it is in print. I read my copy as an ebook. Please take a few minutes now to read this review by Betsy Bird - her words are far more eloquent than mine.

Holling navigates the multitudinous snares set for seventh-graders—parental expectations, sisters, bullies, girls—with wry wit and the knowledge that the world will always be a step or two ahead of him. Schmidt has a way of getting to the emotional heart of every scene without overstatement, allowing the reader and Holling to understand the great truths swirling around them on their own terms. Kirkus Star Review