Historical Fiction Summary Sheet
Your name: Evan Jones
Novel title: Don't You Know There's a War On?
Author: Avi
Description of the main character (s): (Please include age, physical description if provided - and personality traits of your character.)
In the book Don't You Know There's a War On?, the main character's name is
Howard Bellington Crispers, Howie Crispers to his friends In 1943, Howie is a short,
big-eared 11-year old boy with wild orange hair and blue eyes, trying to cope with life
during World War II. Howie is a typical Brooklyn kid who attends Public School 8 (P.S.
8). He is patriotic like most Americans and that patriotism leads to a natural nosiness.
After all, a spy can be lurking around any corner. Also, like so many of his friends, he is
scared that his father, who is a soldier, will be hurt in the war. Howie is basically an
average Word War II American child.
While his dad is off at war, Howie is at home bravely trying to hold down the fort
with his little sister Gloria, his mom, and his best friend, Denny. Denny is also a major
character and has an important role in the story. His father is also serving in the War
and Denny has a crush on Miss Gossim too. For Howie and Denny, World War II
seems to change everything. They worry about the safety of their dads while they take
on new responsibilities at home. Howie cooks and cleans for his mother, takes care of
his sister, and does his part to support the troops, like collecting scrap metal for scrap
drives.
Howie and Denny believe it is their duty to keep any eye out for spies. In fact,
Denny suspects that Principal Lomister is a Nazi spy. If Howie can catch a spy, he will
be a hero and patriot just like those heroes in his Victory Theater Saturday morning
movies. Being nosy and maybe a little bit paranoid, the boys eavesdrop on the
principal and learn that Dr. Lomister plans to fire their favorite teacher, Miss Gossim,
because she is pregnant. Losing Miss Gossim would be horrible! So, Howie and
Denny concoct a plan to save their teacher. The plan takes teamwork and brains.
Together, Howie and Denny are strong team. The strength is tested when the War
changes Denny’s family forever. When Denny’s mom gets the dreaded telegram,
Howie proves to be a caring and dedicated friend.
Setting: (Please include time period, state or country, and any other details
pertinent to the setting. Put your reader “in the scene.”)
The novel takes place in Brooklyn, New York in 1943 during World War II.
Brooklyn is full of three-story brownstone buildings, with stoops out front, apartment
buildings, and some old wooden houses. Howie lives in an apartment, three stories up,
that consists of a kitchen, 3 rooms, and cockroaches. Along with his sister and friend
Denny, he walks to Public School Number 8 (P.S. 8) each school day. On the way to
school, Howie always passes a newsstand and reads the war headlines.
The war affects Brooklyn in a lot of ways and penetrates everyone's life. Many
windows display flags with either blue or gold stars. Blue means that somebody from
the family is fighting in the war. Gold means somebody had died in the war. Some
windows have more than one flag. Families worry about their men who are off fighting
who knows where. People worry about being attacked too. Every night, the city
performs black outs so that enemy bombers cannot find a target. Wardens patrol the
streets making sure lights are out and people are indoors. The kids in school have to
practice air raid drills in case bombs start to fall. Goods from shoelaces to meat are
rationed and people use ration books to buy items.
Novel plot: (Please provide a general summary of what happened in your book.)
(Your plot summary should be at least two thorough paragraphs - written in your
own word - and it shouldn't be longer than one or one and a half pages doublespaced.)
Howie Crispers, a 16 year old boy looks back on his time in Brooklyn, New York
during World War II. It is a time of fear and suspicion. So many dads are away at war
and the enemy might attack the U.S. at any moment. Enemy spies can be anywhere. In
fact, Howie and his friend Denny suspect that their principal, Dr. Lomister, is a Nazi spy.
While eavesdropping on Dr. Lomister from a dumbwaiter in a Brooklyn brownstone,
Howie finds out that his favorite teacher, Miss Gossim, is getting fired. He cannot
imagine enduring the rest of the school year without his favorite teacher. Despite the
rules about being out after dark, Howie decides to visit Miss Gossim to find out what is
really happening. Miss Gossim confided in Howie that she is secretly married to an air
force pilot and expecting a baby. Howie thinks it is very unfair that his favorite teacher
is getting fired just because she is pregnant, so he plans to write a petition to save his
teacher's job.
Everything is going fine, until Horace Ducada hears the lineup bell ring, stuffs the
petition in his pocket, and marches off to class. When Horace tries to pass the petition
from person to person back to Howie, Miss Gossim spots it with Betty Wu. The rule is,
whenever someone is caught passing a note in class, he or she has to give the note to
the teacher and the teacher reads it out loud. After Miss Gossim reads about one and a
half sentences to the class, she stops just before it talks about her being pregnant. She
is really angry and asks Howie not to give the petition to Dr. Lomister. Howie agrees
not to give it to Dr. Lomister, and instead, decides to give it to his boss, Mrs. Wolch.
When the whole class reaches Mrs. Wolch's front door, Howie realizes he has
lost the petition. Mrs. Wolch invites the class inside and they make their case anyway.
Mrs. Wolch listens to them and asks them questions. She says she will think about it
and asks all of the children to go home. The following Monday, Mrs. Wolch and Dr.
Lomister come to the classroom and tell the class that Miss Gossim can stay for the rest
of the school year. Just when everyone is celebrating, Mrs. Partridge bursts in and tells
Denny that he has to go home right away. His mom got the telegram. His father had
been killed.
Denny goes home and the school day goes on as usual. Passing Mr. Teophilo’s
newsstand like he always does, Howie stops and tells Mr. Teo about Denny’s father.
Mr. Teo gives Howie a gold chain to give to Denny along with his compassion. When
Howie arrives home, he gets a surprise. His dad is home, looking rough but alive.
Howie is happy and relieved that his dad is back but all he can think about is Denny and
how his dad is not coming back, ever.
Miss Gossim does finish the school year but that following September, she does
not return to P.S. 8. and no one seems to know why. The years roll on and the War
finally ends in 1945. Howie’s father goes back to work for the post office and moves the
family to Levittown, Long Island. Howie and Denny remained best friends during the
War and Howie tries to keep in touch with Denny after he moves. But Denny never
responds. At 16, Howie still thinks about Miss Gossim and looks back nostalgically at
those dark and scary but special days of World War II. His friends, neighbors and
country bound together to support each other during a frightening time.