Caleb's Wars

September 1, 2011

In small-town Georgia in 1944, 15-year-old Caleb is surrounded by war.

His older brother, Randall, is serving in a black Army unit overseas, and a German prisoner-of-war camp just opened outside town. Caleb's mother wants him to be baptized in a faith he's not sure he believes in, and his overbearing father fights him over every aspect of his life. But worse than all that is the constant battle African-Americans have, in the segregated South, to be seen and treated as fully human. Caleb defies his father and gets a job washing dishes in a whites-only restaurant, where he is horrified to find a German soldier working beside him. The other restaurant workers, both black and white, are equally horrified, but Andreas, the German, seems to want to be Caleb's friend. Dudley's characterizations are sure and complex. His use of dialect, initially a bit jarring, eventually adds depth to the richly evoked setting. Only an improbable and unnecessary subplot involving faith healing distracts slightly from the story's momentum. The ending, in which a white character reveals the full nature of racism—that blacks might be considered friends but never, ever, equals—is startling, swift and sure, pointing to America's next great war, the battle over civil rights.

Provocative and interesting. (Historical fiction. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 1, 2011

Gr 7-10-In 1944 rural Georgia, 15-year-old Caleb has been taught to step off the sidewalk whenever white folks approach and not to talk back to a white person of any age. His older brother enlists to fight the Nazis and is relegated to an all-black unit supervised by white officers. When Caleb's father beats him one time too many, Caleb approaches Mr. Davis about work. The plantation owner has pulled some strings to get German POWs incarcerated close by, so he has all the field help he needs, but he offers Caleb a dishwashing job in his Dixie Belle Cafe. Then he decides to bring one of the POWs in to the Dixie Belle to help out in the kitchen. Over time, the soldier proves to be a quiet, steady worker, and slowly he and Caleb develop a friendship. When Caleb's parents get news that their older son has been injured and taken prisoner, he feels guilty about the relationship: How can he be civil to a person who represents the enemy? His confusion grows when he sees several POWs eating at the Dixie Belle: even though the townspeople detest them, the color of their skin allows them to be served. Furious, Caleb sits down, leading to a confrontation with Mr. Davis that provides no easy answers, but hints that his battles are just beginning. Caleb is compelling and believable, and Dudley's rich writing is impressive, clearly showing the various wars black Americans were fighting in the 1940s, both abroad and closer to home.-Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2011
Grades 8-12 While being baptized, 15-year-old African American Caleb hears a voice and believes God has spoken to him. Bewildered, he keeps the event to himself. It is 1944, and his brother is leaving for the Italian front. Caleb has taken a summer job in a restaurant instead of working for his hot-headed father and has made friends there with a young German from a POW camp outside his Georgia town. Angered by oppressive discrimination and resentful of his father, Caleb sneaks out at night to drink, smoke, and fight. Caleb's inner conflict increases when his prayers heal two people, and his adored brother is wounded and captured overseas. This depiction of a young black boy coming of age in turbulent times is packed with powerful vignettes that emphasize the daily humiliations experienced in the segregated South. Dudley tries to weave together a lot of themesreligious belief, father-son relationships, the impact of discriminationand some are undeveloped. But the eye-opening story is heartfelt and compelling, and it leaves readers with much to ponder.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2012
Growing up in Georgia during World War II, fifteen-year-old Caleb, who is African American, struggles to find his way. Working at a white-owned restaurant, he meets a German POW imprisoned nearby. Their ensuing friendship is idealized, but Caleb's inner battles over family and loyalty are compelling.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)