After the Dancing Days
Margaret I. Rostkowski. HarperCollins Publishers, $14 (217pp) ISBN 978-0-06-025077-5
Winner of the 1985 Publication Prize in the Utah Original Writing Competition, this first novel, set in a small town near Kansas City, deals with both the realism and the ironies of heroism. Thirteen-year-old Annie finds herself drawn to the veterans' hospital where her doctor-father has started to work after World War I. There she begins a tenuous friendship with Andrew, a young veteran who has been horribly burned by gas. Despite her mother's opposition to it, Annie maintains her friendship with Andrew. Through Andrew, Annie finds out the real circumstances of the wartime death of her Uncle Paul, the only adult ever to treat Annie as though she counted. Then Annie faces her first test of maturity: she must confront both her mother's anger and the true nature of war. Fine characterizations and a powerful theme combine in an important debut. (12-up)
Details
Reviewed on: 09/29/1986
Genre: Children's
Library Binding - 224 pages - 978-0-06-025078-2
Paperback - 224 pages - 978-0-06-440248-4
Prebound-Glued - 217 pages - 978-0-8335-0314-5
Prebound-Glued - 217 pages - 978-0-8124-6884-7
Prebound-Other - 217 pages - 978-0-606-03707-5
