At Last She Stood: How Joey Guerrero Spied, Survived, and Fought for Freedom

Kelly (On Again, Awkward Again) excavates the life of a brave, little-known Filipina who helped the Allied Forces win WWII while living with Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy. As a devout nine-year-old Catholic in Lucban, Josefina Veluya (1917–1996) pretends she’s Joan of Arc, and wonders, “What would it be like to be a tiny girl in a giant war, surrounded by people who underestimated you?” At 16, orphaned following her parents’ deaths, Veluya develops tuberculosis and winds up in Manila for treatment; cured, she later meets and marries medical student Renato Guerrero. In 1941, her chronic fever, skin lesions, and joint pains are diagnosed as leprosy. As Japanese forces invade the Philippines, she becomes involved in the guerrilla movement, first spying on Japanese soldiers, then carrying a critical map 40 miles through Japanese military checkpoints to aid in liberating war prisoners. Though details of the subject’s childhood are slim, Kelly recreates vivid moments throughout Veluya’s life, interspersing historical context surrounding key figures, leprosy treatment, and Filipino history. The result is a handy primer for those interested in the period, and a bolstering entreaty for readers to seek out more information. Ages 8–12. (May)