SCT Educator Resource Guide: The Edge of Peace

EDUCATOR RESOURCE GUIDE

Presents

Synopsis .....................................................................................................................................................What Came Before .................................................................................................................................Curriculum Connections & EALRs ..................................................................................................Suzan Zeder, Playwright .....................................................................................................................A Chat with Billy Seago, Actor ..........................................................................................................About the Set ...........................................................................................................................................About the Costumes .............................................................................................................................American Sign Language in Theater ..............................................................................................World War II: An Overview ...............................................................................................................The Edge of War: The American Home Front During World War II ................................Being Heard – Communication in Wartime ................................................................................Words & Phrases That Might Be New to You .............................................................................Activity Pages ..........................................................................................................................................Booklist ......................................................................................................................................................Evaluation Form .....................................................................................................................................

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The Edge of Peace

SYNOPSIS

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It is April 1945, during the last desperate days of World War II, and all the “able bodied” men have gone to war. Tuc, a Deaf man in his 40s, has lived his whole life in the tiny town of Ware, Illinois. As a boy and young man he was isolated and somewhat ostracized by his deafness, but now he has become the very center of the community, as a mechanic who can “fix anything that moves” and the town postman who delivers the letters and telegrams with the news of loved ones far away.

One young infantry soldier, Ricky Ricks, sends letters home to his wife, June, and his Mother, Izzy, and to his eleven-year-old brother, Buddy. Buddy idolizes his brother and dreams of the excitement of wartime as he shoots down imaginary enemy planes while manning the spotters’ post above the town store. When Tuc delivers a telegram from the War Department saying that Ricky is missing in action, Buddy refuses to believe that his brother is lost.

Above the town, a mysterious older woman, Nell Hicks, lives in a tar-paper shack. She rarely comes to town, preferring to live as a recluse. There have always been rumors about her. During the Depression people called her “Mother Hicks,” thought she was a witch

and blamed her for everything bad that happened in the town. Now she listens day and night to shortwave radio broadcasts of people speaking German, the language of the enemy.

Just out of town lies a Prisoner of War (POW) camp. Captured German soldiers have been shipped to the U.S. and are helping with the fall harvests. When a prisoner escapes, the town is outraged. To

make matters worse, someone is sneaking around town late at night, someone has broken into the store and stolen some food, and someone has been peeping in people’s windows. Everyone is sure it is the POW.

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A woman named Margaret arrives in town asking all sorts of questions about Tuc. She is a recruiter from the Goodyear Plant in Akron over 500 miles away and she has come to offer Tuc a job as a mechanic. Akron has a vibrant Deaf community and skilled Deaf workers are in great demand.

A German dive-bomber airplane buzzes the town. Someone jumps out and parachutes down. Everyone is alarmed, thinking it has something to do with the escaped prisoner. But the person whips off a helmet and it’s Girl, an orphan girl who was raised in the town and left to join the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots. A telegram arrives

which contains the painful news that Ricky’s status has been changed from missing to killed in action. Everyone is devastated. Even Buddy finally accepts that Ricky will not be coming home.

As tensions rise, more and more suspicion gathers around Nell Hicks who has been seen going into the POW camp. Tuc has been acting strangely as well, leaving

food and blankets in the woods. Finally the townspeople confront Nell Hicks and accuse her of being a German sympathizer. But Buddy reveals evidence that Nell has been listening to German broadcasts in hopes of finding out information about Ricky.

Margaret finally tracks Tuc down and offers him the chance to leave Ware to join a Deaf community. She also reveals her true identity, as the grown-up Maizie, Girl’s real mother. She has come back to town to thank Tuc for the loving care he has shown to her daughter for all these years.

As Nell Hicks sits by the fire and listens to a speech by President Roosevelt on her radio, the true identity of the POW is revealed, as another wounded soul comes to Dug Hill seeking comfort and healing. Buddy’s faith in his brother is rewarded at last.

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WHAT CAME BEFORE

The Edge of Peace is the final play in a trilogy of plays set in the town of Ware, Illinois. It is written as a stand-alone piece, which means you don’t need to know the first two plays to appreciate and understand it. But if you’re curious about the whole story, here are synopses of those plays in the order they were written.

MOTHER HICKS

Set in the 1930s, this play introduces three outsiders: an orphan girl, known only as Girl, a young Deaf man, Tuc, and a mysterious woman, Mother Hicks, whom the townspeople

suspect is a witch. When the crops burn up, it’s a spell. When a cow goes dry, it’s a hex. At midnight, they say, Mother Hicks does strange things in the graveyard with devil dolls and tiny little shoes. A writer comes to town collecting witch stories. Girl becomes fascinated with Mother Hicks, even believing her to be the mother Girl longs to find. Girl steals the writer’s notebook and secretly acts out the witch work he describes.

Girl injures herself badly in the course of her witch rituals and Tuc appears out of nowhere and carries her up to Dug Hill. In the days that follow, everything Girl sees confirms her belief that Mother Hicks is indeed a witch. Girl finds that a foul smelling poultice has been placed on her leg. She is forced to drink a brew of “rattlesnake yarb.” She hears rabbits scream in the night as Mother Hicks brandishes a knife over them. Tuc seems to be her helper, making strange gestures and signs.

As time goes on, Girl discovers that nothing is as it first appeared. Animals come to Mother Hicks when they are hurt, injured or need help with a “birthing.” Tuc’s “air pictures” are a language with beauty and meaning.

When the townspeople discover Girl is up on Dug Hill, they storm up the path with guns to rescue her. Girl reveals to Mother Hicks that she believes Mother Hicks to be her mother, and suggests that they work together to “witch ‘em and let them slide all the way back down to Main Street.” Furious, Mother Hicks tells Girl that she is neither a witch nor Girl’s mother—Girl is the orphan child of an orphan child who came to Mother Hicks for help. Girl runs away before the townspeople arrive. After a tense standoff the townspeople back down.

Days later, Girl finds Mother Hicks in the cemetery at the grave of her own child who died the same year Girl was born. Mother Hicks has kept her daughter’s dolls and shoes to remember her by. Girl asks Mother Hicks for help to find what she really needs: a name. Mother Hicks holds out her hand, and Girl reaches for it as the play ends.


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THE TASTE OF SUNRISE

This prequel to Mother Hicks begins as thunder cracks and a storm rages. Tuc, who is just a baby, burns up with scarlet fever. Nell Hicks, a mid-wife, comes to the door and offers to help. Tuc’s

frantic father, Jonas, lets her in but the housekeeper warns him that other children she has nursed have died. Thanks to Nell, Tuc survives the night but the next morning Jonas discovers his son is deaf.

Tuc and his father live together very happily for 10 years. Tuc is a born farmer. He understands the soil, the seasons and the language of bees. The silent bond between father and son is deep and beautiful. “Father talk has no need of words.”

A teacher comes to the farm in a shiny model-T Ford. She tells Jonas that if he will let her take his son to the Deaf School many miles away they will teach him to speak and to read lips. Jonas reluctantly agrees and Tuc goes off to school. School is a terrifying place for Tuc but the other Deaf children in the dormitory teach him the secret and forbidden sign language that the adults have banished for fear that it will ruin the Deaf students’ oral skills. Tuc meets Maizie, a teenager who works at the Deaf School. Even though Maizie can hear, she joins the other kids and teaches them how to act out silent movies in sign language.

Tuc goes home for a vacation and discovers that he has lost his ability to communicate with his father. Both are in despair. Tuc goes back to school and while he is away Jonas is stricken with influenza and dies, but not before granting Nell Hicks a small parcel of his land on Dug Hill and asking her to keep an eye out for his son.

After his father’s funeral, Tuc refuses to go back to the Deaf school and stays with Nell. Gradually, they help each other deal with their losses and heal their grief: Tuc for his father, Nell for her own child. Through a misunderstanding Tuc is badly stung by bees and is taken to the Illinois State Home. There he is reunited with Maizie who is nine months pregnant. They escape from the State Home and Tuc takes her to Dug Hill where Nell helps her with the birth.

Thinking her child will have a better life, Maizie takes the baby to town late one night and leaves her on a doorstep. Tuc is heartbroken but promises Maizie that he will look after her from afar. Maizie leaves as Nell asks Tuc to teach her sign language so they can build themselves a “talking way.” Together they watch the sun rise.

The Edge of Peace touches on many themes and ideas. Here are a few we believe would make good Curriculum Connections: WWII, Families during Wartime, Soldiers, Deafness, Career, Community, Radio Communication, Prisoners of War, Empathy, American Sign Language.

We believe that seeing the show and using our Educator Resource Guide can help you meet the following EALRs:

State Standards

Theatre 1. The student understands and applies arts knowledge and skills.

1.1 Understand arts concepts and vocabulary, specifically, identifies and describes characters, setting, actions, conflict, sounds.

1.2 Develops theatre skills and techniques. 1.3 Understands and applies theatre genres and styles of various artists, cultures, and times. 1.4 Understands and applies audience conventions in a variety of settings and

performances of theatre. 2. The student demonstrates thinking skills using artistic processes.

2.1 Apply a creative process in the arts: Conceptualize; Gather; Develop; Organize; Reflect; Refine; Present.

3. Theatre: The student communicates through the arts (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts). 3.1 Uses theatre to express feelings and present ideas.

Reading 1. The student understands and uses different skills and strategies to read.

1.1 Use word recognition skills and strategies to read and comprehend text. 1.2 Use vocabulary (word meaning) strategies to comprehend text. 1.3 Build vocabulary through wide reading. 1.4 Apply word recognition skills and strategies to read fluently.

2. The student understands the meaning of what is read. 2.1 Demonstrate evidence of reading comprehension. 2.2 Understand and apply knowledge of text components to comprehend text. 2.3 Expand comprehension by analyzing, interpreting, and synthesizing information and

ideas in literary and informational text. 2.4 Think critically and analyze author’s use of language, style, purpose, and perspective

in literary and informational text. 3. The student reads different materials for a variety of purposes.

3.1 Read to learn new information. 3.2 Read to perform a task.

Social Studies4.1 Understands historical chronology.4.2 Understands and analyzes the causal factors that have shaped major events in history.4.3 Understands that there are multiple perspectives and interpretations of historical events.

Communication1. The student uses listening and observation skills and strategies to gain understanding.

1.1 Uses listening and observation skills and strategies to focus attention and interpret information.

1.2 Understands, analyzes, synthesizes, or evaluates information from a variety of sources.

Science 1.2 Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.4.1 Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of

the language studied and their own.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS & EALRs

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SUZAN ZEDER, PLAYWRIGHT

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When I was five years old my mother gave me a choice. I could either go to New York to see a Broadway musical, or have a birthday party. New York was a 45-minute train ride away and the cost of a ticket was about $7.20, (only $2.00 to sit in the balcony). I chose the play over the party and my life was never the same. For days and weeks and years afterward, I remembered every moment of that show. I saw every scene over and over again in my imagination. And to this day, I can still sing every song word for word.

I am proud to say that I have written more than twenty plays that have been performed to young people very much like that little girl who sat

in the darkened theater waiting for the overture to start. My plays have been produced in all fifty states, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Australia, Germany, Israel and New Zealand; they have been published in Great Britain, Germany, Japan and Korea. I have won some awards, including three Distinguished Play Awards from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, and the Corey Medallion from the Children’s Theatre Foundation. I’ve also been inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre and the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at the University of Texas in Austin, where I am a professor of Theatre for Youth and Playwriting.

In 1982 SCT commissioned me to write a play called Mother Hicks. The original production in 1983 was directed by Rita Giomi. The response to Mother Hicks was remarkable, due in no small part to the powerful presence of the Deaf character, Tuc, and to the artistry of Deaf actors who have played him over the years. Thirteen years after I wrote Mother Hicks, I gave Tuc his own play, The Taste of Sunrise. Once again SCT commissioned the play, and the original production in 1996 was directed by Linda Hartzell and featured Billy Seago as Tuc. Now, seventeen years later I return to Ware to finish the stories of characters who are as real to me as my own family.

Although each play tells its own complete story, taken together the trilogy leads us through three pivotal eras of American history as reflected in the lives of the families who live in Ware. At the core of each play is an issue important in the interaction of Deaf and hearing cultures. Each play also tells the story of a child facing as tough a time as he or she will ever face, with courage, with humor, with imagination, with grace. The young characters who inhabit these plays have taught me by their example. They have inspired me. I am not sure if I have created them or if they have created me.

These plays span thirty years of my writing life and thirty years of artistic partnership with Seattle Children’s Theatre. We have all grown up and grown older together, characters and collaborators alike. But now the stories are told and all that remains is for you who will see this play to allow these characters to live in your imagination. Welcome to Ware!

A CHAT WITH BILLY SEAGO, ACTOR


Billy has collaborated with playwright Suzan Zeder on the development of the character Tuc in the plays Mother Hicks, The Taste of Sunrise and The Edge of Peace. He is not able to be a part of this production, but he kindly took the time to answer a few questions about his work and what went into creating Tuc’s language.

Please tell us a little bit about your working process.

As a general rule, for any character, I approach a role as a series of decisions that help me to portray my character as believably as possible. The decisions cover areas such as gesture, movement, body language and facial expression. All physical, vocal, and emotional expressions should work together to heighten the believability of the character. One of the first things I need to do is understand the character I’m portraying. I identify all the decisions that my character makes in the course of the play. This helps me to find my “throughline of action,” to see how my character develops from the beginning to the end of the play. I then explore the reasons for his behavior, why he made those decisions. I do research to understand the setting that my character is in: the time period, where it is happening, the cultures at play, the values and customs of that time period, and the relationships between the play’s characters. I then am prepared to jump into the rehearsal process, which brings on another round of decision-making. During rehearsals I look at what my character says about himself and what information he is sending to others, as well as what information he is receiving from others, and how that happens. These are all connected to the character’s background (both what is written in the script and what I imagine): his family, past, education; his personal, family, and cultural values; his beliefs, traits, biases, intelligence level, etc. Through the process of rehearsal the dynamics and intricacies of character are created, relationships are established and everything is polished up to the opening show.

What is a particularly interesting or unusual challenge on this project, and how are you setting out to solve it?

As a Deaf actor, I normally translate my lines of the script from the English text into American Sign Language for all the plays I am involved with. The Edge of Peace—as well as Mother Hicks and The Taste of Sunrise—were particularly challenging. American Sign Language (ASL) is a unique visual language with its own distinct structure, syntax and grammar. Information is

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conveyed not in sounds, but with the shape and movement of the hands and other parts of the body, and with facial expressions, including mouthing (making mouth movements without making any sound). ASL has dialects, with variations in signs and movements depending on region, where the signer went to school, who taught him/her ASL, at what age the signer learned ASL and how active the signer is in the Deaf community. So one of my challenges was to ensure that Tuc’s sign choices were based on the region around Ware, Illinois, the 1930s and 1940s time period, the lack of fluent signers in Tuc’s early developmental years, the development of his “home signs” (personally invented signs) and his subsequent exposure to ASL at the State School for the Deaf. The sign choices also needed to reflect the natural progression of his sign development as he gained more education. What in your childhood got you to where you are today?

I was the youngest of five children. My father was a Baptist preacher and my mother taught English and Journalism. We were exposed to literature from early childhood and we all frequently enacted biblical stories. My two brothers and I are all deaf. Growing up in the ‘60s and early ‘70s before the advent of television captions, we would watch our favorite physical comedy shows such as The Red Skelton Hour and Get Smart, and silent comedy stars like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. We would often mimic the antics on these shows and

create our own dialogue. One of my first exposures to professional theater was in the late ‘60s when the National Theatre of the Deaf came to Seattle on tour. The deaf kids in my elementary school were taken there. It was somewhat ironic that we were educated in the “oral method” (focused on teaching students to speak and understand the English speech of hearing people) but taken to a full-blown American Sign Language theatrical production. All of these experiences gradually led me to take acting classes in college. Since then theater has been a life-long passion.

Billy Seago is a professional actor, director, theater interpreter/sign coach, master storyteller and Deaf culture consultant. He has acted, directed, performed and conducted classes, workshops, and residencies nationally and internationally for more than 35 years.

Billy performing as Tuc in a reading of The Edge of Peace at University of Texas at Austin

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ABOUT THE SET

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From Jeff Kurihara, Set Designer

One of the major challenges in working on the design for The Edge of Peace was designing a show that will be performed first at University of Texas at Austin’s Theatre Department and then move to SCT. The set had to be able to work in two different spaces, as well as be able to be transported and re-installed effectively. This meant that communication between the production teams of the two organizations was very important.

Communication was an important challenge in another way as well. Because the director, Linda Hartzell, lives in Seattle and I live in Austin, it was not easy for us to meet on a regular basis as we worked on the design. This long-distance collaboration owed a lot to the Internet as a way to share research and design ideas. The use of digital technology and communication is a very efficient way to share design concepts halfway across the country. I used software to create all of the drafting (technical drawings) and renderings (artistic drawings) in digital format, which made it easier to adapt design elements to fit the needs of the show. It also made it simple to share my work via email.

As for the design itself, I had to do research to understand more about the culture of homefront America during World War II. The Edge of Peace brings us into the lives of those at home in a small Midwestern town while family and loved ones are far away at war. One of the most touching aspects of life on the home front was the level of sacrifice for the war effort by the American people. Rationing and material conservation was a way of life that people took pride in, hoping their efforts would help win the war and bring their families home. That hope and pride is portrayed primarily in the General Store set, in the form of war bond and rationing posters, for example. My hope is that the store helps not only to establish time and place, but captures the way of life in the town of Ware, Illinois during the Second World War.

Research photo of a General Store Poster encouraging citizens to grow their own food


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Designer’s rendering (drawing) of the General Store. Note how posters are used to help show the time period of the play.

These sections of the ground plans for the two theaters The Edge of Peace will perform in show one of the adjustments necessary to make the set work in both spaces. Part of the General Store is designed to be on a section of the stage that extends out towards the

audience – what is called the “side stage” in the Charlotte Martin Theatre at SCT. The drawing of SCT’s theater on the left shows that area inside a circle. The theater in Austin doesn’t have that space, so they will be building platforms over the seating area to mimic

SCT’s theater. You can see the outline of the platforms in the circle in the drawing of the Austin theater on the right.

Model of the set showing the General Store on the side stage

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ABOUT THE COSTUMESFrom Hope Bennett, Costume Designer

In a historical show like The Edge of Peace, the costumes need to describe not only what year it is (1945) and where the play takes place (Ware, Illinois), but also who the characters are and what their own personal histories have been. I looked at a lot of clothing from that time and really enjoyed looking at sewing patterns from the early 1940s.

To help shape what the costumes would look like, I began to define characters by things like how much wear and tear each garment would have. For example, Alma has a job and is working during the war, but like her neighbors she cannot afford anything new and mends her old clothes. Although her dress is a pattern from 1939 and very clean and neat, she has added accents to it to make it look newer.

In contrast, Margaret has a great job working for the Goodyear plant, so her suit is new and neat. She’s come looking for Tuc and is dressed for traveling. Everyone used to dress up for traveling.

Reduce, Recycle, Reuse isn’t a new idea to anyone who lived during WWII

1943 McCall Needlework patterns for makeovers to spruce up an old dress

Vogue pattern from 1944 that influenced Margaret’s costume designSketch of Alma’s “made-over” outfit Margaret’s traveling suit



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Getting inside the heads of the characters and defining them by what they choose to wear when they get up in the morning helps paint a story that the audience should easily understand. Although soldiers don’t choose what they are wearing, having the WWII 1945 infantry uniform look right is important for expressing Ricky’s character—just as much as it is for the clothes the townspeople are wearing.

Buddy is a growing kid, so he gets newer clothes. His jeans are based on the catalogs from 1944, but they have many scuffs and tears since he is very active. Even the way he combs (or doesn’t comb!) his hair is important to the way we understand how he’s feeling and thinking.

Group of children in 1942

Buddy’s costume sketch

American G.I.s crossing an English field in 1944 and a sketch of the Soldier’s costume


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AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE IN THEATER

American Sign Language (ASL) appeals to both Deaf and hearing people when it is performed on stage and screen, but not always for the same reasons. Hearing people can find sign language exotic and expressive, even miraculous—it can seem amazing that ASL conveys complex meanings without voice or hearing. For the Deaf culture, on the other hand, the language seems natural, but performance is essential—American Sign Language has no widely used written form. ASL literature must be performed to survive. American Sign Language grammar is completely unrelated to English; sentence structure, vocabulary and word order are all different. Many ASL performance traditions do not translate well, like “ABC stories,” in which performers use letters in the signed alphabet to represent objects or actions. ABC stories were developed in Deaf clubs, which used to flourish all over the United States. They provided a place for Deaf comedians to perform, as well as for skits, plays and lectures in ASL. These clubs were the first public spaces owned by Deaf people, spaces carved out of a hearing wilderness where Deaf people could express themselves without reservation. Traditional Deaf clubs are almost extinct today—they began to decline as new technology allowed Deaf people to communicate with each other and the hearing world through text.

About the time Deaf clubs began their decline, the hearing world began to see the potential of American Sign Language in the theater. In 1960, Anne Bancroft learned some sign to prepare for her role in The Miracle Worker, a play about the famous deaf-blind woman Helen Keller. Ms. Bancroft saw theater productions in ASL at Gallaudet, the college for the Deaf, and convinced others involved in The Miracle Worker to see shows there as well. One of those people, the set designer David Hays, went on to found the National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD), working along with the Deaf performer Bernard Bragg. The National Theatre of the Deaf, as well as other professional ASL theaters that have emerged since, like Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles and New York Deaf Theatre, try to present work that bridges the gap between the hearing and Deaf worlds. Deaf West Theatre often collaborates with hearing theaters—they produced a successful revival of the musical Big River with the Roundabout Theatre which featured Deaf and hearing actors performing together.

The use of ASL onstage has spread far beyond Deaf theater companies. In 1980 the hearing playwright Mark Medoff wrote Children of a Lesser God for the Deaf actress Phyllis Frelich. It premiered at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Using both ASL and English dialogue, the play portrays the conflicted romantic relationship between a Deaf woman and her former teacher. The characters embody the struggle between sign language and “oralism”—the idea that Deaf people should be taught to use vocal speech. Phyllis Frelich went on to win a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway production of the play. She was the first Deaf performer to win a Tony.


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Integrating American Sign Language and Deaf performers into performances for mixed Deaf and hearing audiences presents challenges and opportunities. Howie Seago (brother of the Seattle Deaf actor Billy Seago) is the only Deaf actor in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He performs in ASL. For one recent production of Henry V, his character was provided with a Royal Interpreter, who followed him about onstage. In To Kill a Mockingbird he played Bob Ewell, an abusive alcoholic who forces his daughter Mayella to interpret his lies in court. Seago and his on-stage daughter created a “white trash” sign language, which expressed the rage of a man who could not communicate effectively with the wider world. In The Music Man, Seago played a con man who communicates with his partner in sign language to keep their schemes secret.

The potential uses of ASL in performance are endless. Deaf people use ASL in performance to celebrate, understand, preserve and deepen their common culture; hearing artists and audiences often see ASL as a metaphor for language itself—the ways in which it can express our feelings and thoughts, the ways it can both unite and divide us.

Some Prominent Deaf Actors Who Perform in ASL

Sean Berdy currently stars in Switched at Birth, playing the role of Emmett Bledsoe. He is one of the two main Deaf characters in the show. He was nominated for TV Breakout Star for the 2011 Teen Choice Awards. Marlee Beth Matlin is the youngest actress, and the only Deaf performer, to win an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She won for the film version of Children of a Lesser God. She has also been nominated three times for a Golden Globe award and won once, and been nominated four times for an Emmy Award. A member of the National Association of the Deaf, she plays Emmet Bledsoe’s mother in Switched at Birth.

Linda Bove played the Deaf character Linda the Librarian on Sesame Street for over thirty years. Like many prominent Deaf actors, she studied at Gallaudet College (now known as Gallaudet University). She and her husband, the Deaf actor Ed Waterstreet, founded the Deaf West Theatre company in Los Angeles.

T.L. Forsberg is the lead singer for the avant-garde rock band KRIYA which has opened for Alanis Morissette and Tori Amos. She was profiled in the 2010 documentary See What I’m Saying. She plays Olivia on Switched at Birth.

Tyrone Giordano played Huckleberry Finn in the long-running stage musical Big River. He also played the brother of Ashton Kutcher’s character in the romantic comedy A Lot Like Love.

Bernard Bragg, an actor, writer, director, poet and artist, trained with the French mime Marcel Marceau. He has performed on stage, in television and in films, toured his one-man shows around the world, and helped found the National Theatre of the Deaf. He was one of the first performers to perform in ASL on national television, in 1967.

Audiences applaud for Deaf performers by shaking their hands in the air


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WORLD WAR II: AN OVERVIEW

World War II was the bloodiest, deadliest, most destructive war the world had ever seen. More than 38 million people died, many of them innocent civilians. Fighting raged in many parts of the world. More than 50 nations took part in the war, which changed the world forever.

For Americans, World War II had a clear-cut purpose. People knew why they were fighting: to defeat tyranny. Most of Europe had been conquered by Nazi Germany, which was under the iron grip of dictator Adolf Hitler. The war in Europe began with Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939. Wherever the Nazis went, they waged a campaign of terror against Jews and other minorities.

In Asia and the Pacific, Japanese armies invaded country after country, island after island. On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes bombed the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The next day, the U.S. Congress declared war, taking the U.S. into World War II.

What Caused World War II?

Americans had fought in World War I (1914-1918) to “make the world safe for democracy.” Those were the words and goals of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. But the peace treaties that ended World War I did not make the world safe for democracy. Instead, they caused bitterness and anger that led to World War II.

Germany and its allies had been the losers in World War I. Germany was stripped of one sixth of its territory and forced to pay huge reparations (payments by a defeated country for the destruction it caused in a war). After World War I, Germany suffered from high unemployment and runaway inflation. German money became almost worthless. Many Germans seethed in anger at the peace treaty.

A League of Nations was set up after World War I to keep the peace. But the U.S. did not join and other countries were too busy with their own problems to worry about Germany and other trouble spots.

Then, in the early 1930s, economic depression hit all over the world. Workers lost their jobs, trade fell off and times were hard. People looked for leaders who could bring about change.

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Rise of Dictatorships

Germany, Italy and Japan all came under the rule of dictators or military leaders. A dictator named Mussolini took power in Italy in 1922. Military leaders took control of Japan in the early 1930s. In Germany, Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party, gained power in 1933. These leaders promised to restore their countries to greatness. But they set up totalitarian governments. (A totalitarian government is controlled by a single political party that allows no opposition and tightly controls people’s lives.)

Hitler began to arm Germany for war. Japan invaded China. Mussolini sent Italian troops to conquer Ethiopia, in Africa. None of the world’s democracies did anything to stop them.

A World at War

Hitler had a plan to conquer Europe. He began by taking Austria, then Czechoslovakia. Again, no one tried to stop him. As Winston Churchill, who became Britain’s wartime leader, said, “Britain and France had to choose between war and dishonor. They chose dishonor. They will have war.”

Churchill’s words came true. In 1939, German troops invaded Poland. World War II in Europe had begun. The U.S. did not enter the war until December 1941, when Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor. U.S. troops fought in North Africa, Europe, Asia and throughout the Pacific Ocean. At home, Americans rolled up their sleeves to produce more warplanes, battleships and guns than the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan). Everyone contributed to the war effort.

A Changed World

Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, ending the war in Europe and Africa. The war in Asia and the Pacific did not end until after the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan—the only time such bombs have been used in war. Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had led the U.S. in wartime, did not live to see peace. He died a month before Germany surrendered. But in a speech written but never delivered, he spoke of the need to preserve peace: “Today we are faced with the preeminent [above all other] fact that, if civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships—the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together and work together in the same world, at peace.”

Excerpted from:Scholastic – http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/

world-war-ii-overview


THE EDGE OF WAR: THE AMERICAN HOME FRONT DURING WORLD WAR II

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During the Second World War, more than sixteen million Americans served in the military. Almost three hundred thousand were killed in action. But the war also changed the lives of the Americans who stayed home. They worried about people they loved fighting far away. They also worried that America and her allies would lose; that evil dictators would enslave the world. They worked and sacrificed to help America win. Sometimes they volunteered; sometimes they had no choice.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941 threw Americans into panic. What would happen next? Would the Japanese hit San Francisco or Seattle? Would the Germans bombard New York City? But as the war spread across the whole world, America’s leaders didn’t want to use the military to guard against an attack on American neighborhoods. Instead, they established the Civilian Defense program to free the military to fight overseas and make people at home feel safer and more involved in the war effort.

Air-raid wardens supervised blackout drills. When an air raid siren went off, people had to turn off all lights. Enemy planes couldn’t target what they couldn’t see. Any light visible from above could attract bombs and gunfire. Spotters scanned the skies for enemy aircraft, sometimes from specially built towers. By 1943, six million volunteers were working to protect America from attack. But no plane spotter ever saw an enemy plane. Mainland America was never bombed.

Women found new opportunities on the home front during the war. The Women Airforce Service Pilots program (WASP) began training over one thousand women pilots. In February 1943, Avenger Field, near Sweetwater, Texas, became an all-female airport. For the first time in U.S. history, women flew all types of military aircraft, though only on non-combat missions.

Even people who weren’t actively working in defense saw reminders of the war all around them. Many families hung “service banners” in their windows. These flags contained a blue star for each son or daughter serving in the military. If a son or daughter died while serving, the star was changed to gold.

Civil Defense air-raid warden’s helmet

Playing cards with silhouettes of military planes were used to train civilian spotters

to identify them. Each suit showed a different country’s planes: spades were

American, hearts were British, diamonds were German and clubs were Japanese.

Elizabeth L. Gardner, WASP, at the controls of

a B-26 Marauder

The war came home in another way: nearly four hundred thousand captured German soldiers came to the United States as prisoners. Many actually enjoyed their time in America, working for wages on farms, forests and factories all around the country. Officials recorded over two thousand escape attempts, but most escapes were more like frolics. According to historian Irving Kellman, “They wanted to go to a bar and have a beer. They wanted to meet some women.” Most turned themselves in or were captured after a few days. None made it back to Germany.

America needed those POW workers. The U.S. economy during World War II was very good and very bad at the same time. Unemployment dropped to an all-time low. Personal income reached an all-time high. But there weren’t many ways for people to spend their money. Factories were busy turning out planes, tanks, guns and ammunition; nobody made cars or appliances.

The government controlled how much people were allowed to buy. Coffee, sugar, gasoline, bicycles, clothing, fuel oil, silk, nylon, stoves, shoes, meat, cheese, butter, lard, margarine, canned foods,

dried fruit, jam, tires and typewriters were all rationed. Without much to buy, people saved most of their money. Encouraged by Hollywood stars in huge propaganda campaigns, many bought “War Bonds.” You could buy a War Bond for as little as $18.75. In return, the government would promise to pay you back $25 after ten years.

And the government wanted a lot of the things you already had. Constant “scrap drives” encouraged people to donate an amazing variety of materials for the war effort. Women collected fat from cooking, which would be used to make soap. Metal and rubber were especially prized; children contributed balls of rubber bands as well as balls of aluminum foil they peeled from chewing gum wrappers. Children also harvested five thousand tons of milkweed fluff to fill lifejackets.


This 1943 poster reminded citizens that they could compromise national

security and soldiers’ safety with careless talk. It shows a gold star

banner, which means that the soldier it honors has been killed in action.

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Wartime factories needed workers and so many adult men were in the military that factories had to turn to new sources of labor. The patriotic symbol “Rosie the Riveter” encouraged many women to go to work in industry. Teenagers, both female and male, dropped out of high school in huge numbers to go to work in defense jobs. The wartime demand for workers brought opportunities to Deaf people, who weren’t (and still aren’t) allowed to serve in the U.S. military. During World War I, Goodyear had hired many Deaf people to work in Akron, Ohio. They created clubs, church groups and sports teams. The “Goodyear Silents,” a semiprofessional football team that won several league championships, became a particular source of pride, demonstrating that Deaf people could compete on the football field as well as the factory floor. But after the First World War ended, most Deaf people in Akron lost their jobs, as the soldiers returned home. The Silents football team finally disbanded in 1927. World War II revived Akron’s Deaf community as Goodyear again hired Deaf workers from all over the country to build Corsair gull-wing fighter jets and other aircraft. The popular Akron Club for the Deaf stayed open seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Goodyear encouraged the use of American Sign Language in factories and hired sign language interpreters. The Akron Deaf community even nicknamed the language, “Akron Sign Language.” Historians call the Second World War a “total war.” It affected every single person in the nations that fought, often completely transforming their lives. Though America was spared the devastation that fell on many other nations, the war brought home plenty of loss, hardship, and even government oppression. But the home front experience also provided opportunities for women, Deaf people and other groups to find new jobs, gain wealth, have new experiences, and make human connections that had seemed impossible before the war.

Resources:Civil Defense – http://www.americainwwii.com/articles/busy-with-the-blitz-proofing/First-person recollection of a WWII aircraft spotter – http://jamisonwildlife.com/spotter.htmlHistory through Deaf Eyes – http://my.gallaudet.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/Deaf%20

Eyes%20Exhibit/community-01wartime.htmRationing – http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/exhibits/events/rationing.htmGerman POWS in America – http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/German-

POWs-on-the-American-Homefront.html

Rosie the Riveter

The Wingfoot Clan was a publication of Goodyear Tire

and Rubber Company. The May 1918 special issue focusing on

deaf workers became a cherished memento of deaf employees.

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BEING HEARD – COMMUNICATION IN WARTIME

During World War II there were no personal computers or cell phones, and television sets were rare. There was no Internet, texting, email, fax, video chat or voice mail. But there were a variety of other ways that people communicated with each other, whether they were friends and family, or troops waiting for instructions from their commanders.

CIVILIAN LIFE

Letters

Today we jokingly call it snail mail. But during the 1940s, communicating with loved ones at war was truly a slow process. Because of the large volume of mail to be processed (and sometimes censored), and because it took time for ships carrying the mail to get to Europe, it could take weeks to arrive. Of course it took just as long for letters from the front to make it to the U.S. And there was

no way to know how long it would take—letters would sometimes arrive in a few days, sometimes not for weeks or even months.

Mail also took up a lot of shipping space that was needed for war materials. The U.S. adopted a procedure called “V-Mail” or “Victory Mail.” Letters to and from servicemen abroad were photographed on microfilm and transported on film by air to the destination, then re-enlarged and printed on the receiving end and delivered. One roll of film weighing about 7 ounces could hold over 1,500 letters, saving precious space and weight on planes transporting supplies to the troops. Two pounds of microfilm could replace 114 pounds of letters. Over a billion letters were sent via V-Mail between 1942 and 1945.

Telegraph

The only way to deliver written communication more quickly was by telegraph. Telegraph machines were used to transmit messages over radio waves in the form of electrical impulses which were then converted into data. Because the machine does not relay spoken words, it requires the use of a code. Samuel F. B. Morse, one of the pioneers of the technology, developed the Morse code, a series of short and long tones, lights, or clicks which represent the letters, numerals and punctuation of a message. Sending telegraph messages was expensive. Especially in wartime, people usually reserved telegraph communication for the most important messages.

Telephone

While many American homes did have a telephone, it was too expensive for each home to have its own line. The majority of home telephone lines were “party lines,” shared with two or more other homes. Calls were routed through telephone operators at switchboards. Operators used a ring pattern to notify the telephone owner that a caller was on the line. For example, one ring

Advertisement showing the microfilm used to record V-Mail

Morse code


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would let the first home know the call was for them, two rings would be for their neighbor. The system allowed more people to have telephones, but it also meant that your neighbor could pick up their line and listen to your conversation.

Newspaper and Radio

Most people received news of the war from a newspaper. Every American city and most towns had at least one daily newspaper. But radio was an equally important connection to the world. Families would gather around the radio in the evening. Live broadcasts of music, baseball games and shows like The Adventures of Superman kept people entertained. When it came to getting the latest news, there was nothing like radio for immediacy. The first news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came via radio. The next day President Roosevelt’s address to Congress announcing the U.S. war with Japan was broadcast to the nation on the radio. In the years that followed, radio broadcasts of Roosevelt’s “Fireside Chats” helped unite the country in their understanding of the war.

Ham Radio

Amateur radio broadcasting, also known as ham radio, is two-way transmission in which messages are sent by Morse code or by

voice. Ham radio operators use shortwave radios to communicate all over the world. But during World War I and World War II, the United States Congress suspended all amateur radio broadcasting. Radio operators were, as a group, banned from transmitting but they often kept their listening gear in operation.

During World War II, short messages from prisoners of war were often read by studio announcers at stations in Germany, Japan and other Axis powers countries. A number of shortwave listeners, including citizens who discovered they were able to hear the shortwave bands on their home radios, copied the prisoner names and addresses and notified families by mail or telephone. The practice became known as “Prisoner of War relay” or “POW monitoring.” Although the Allied government provided similar services, the families usually heard from shortwave listeners first, sometimes as many as 100 at a time.

Newsreels

Moviegoers were kept up to date with events at home and on the war fronts by newsreels that were run before the feature film. A newsreel was a short documentary film averaging 10 minutes long, which provided news, usually featuring recent wartime footage, and entertainment for millions of moviegoers.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the Oval Office at the White House delivering a fireside chat about the progress of the

Second World War

Family listening to news on the radio

1943 cover of QST, a monthly magazine published by

the American Radio Relay League for ham radio

operators. QST is radio code for “calling all stations.”


Television

Very few homes had television sets at the time. In 1945 there were fewer than 10,000 working TVs in the country and only nine stations on the air. At the start of World War II, worldwide television broadcasting was reduced or stopped completely. The country most drastically affected was England, whose TV broadcasting was shut down from September 1, 1939 until June 7, 1946.

In the United States, commercial broadcasting was unaffected until 1942. At that time, virtually all stations went dark. Those stations remaining broadcast with a reduced schedule throughout the war. TV was used (among other things) to entertain the troops, provide updates on the war, and to teach the public civil defense and demonstrate emergency first-aid procedures.

MILITARY LIFE

Radio, Telegraph and Telephone

In WWII wired and wireless communication was very important for directing military forces spread all over the world. These methods of communication allowed information to be relayed immediately. Wired systems provided telephone and telegraph service, including the printing telegraph. Countless miles of wire were laid throughout the war zones to allow troops to talk to each other. Troops also used wireless technology. High-powered mobile radio sets were distributed throughout the military as widely as possible. With these sets, telegraph communication could be conducted at distances of more than 100 miles with vehicles on the road.

“Field telephones” are the great-grandfathers of the cell phone. They are mobile telephones intended for military use, designed to withstand wartime conditions. They can draw power from their own battery or from an external power source. Field telephones were first used in the First World War to direct troops. The first field telephones had a wind-up generator, used to power the telephone’s ringer and batteries to send the call.

Navajo Code Talkers

Wireless communication during World War II allowed troops to send messages to their comrades, but it allowed enemy troops to hear those messages as well. American and Allied troops would speak in code in an effort to prevent English-speaking Japanese soldiers from discovering their tactics, but the Japanese were

skilled at breaking codes. Codes became so elaborate that a three line message might take 30 minutes to decipher, which made communication difficult.

Philip Johnston, a civilian whose missionary parents raised him on a Navajo reservation, pitched the idea of using the difficult-to-master Navajo language to confound the enemy and allow efficient communication between allied troops. No Japanese and only about thirty non-Navajos could understand the Navajo language when World War II began. Johnston’s idea to create a code based on the Navajo language offered a simple, effective way for troops to

communicate quickly without allowing the Japanese to understand. Those three-line codes that had taken 30 minutes to decipher could now be communicated in 20 seconds.

Military field telephone

Portable military telegraph unit

Navajo Code Talkers at work


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An elite unit was formed in early 1942 when Johnston recruited the first 29 Navajo “Code Talkers.” Although the code was modified and expanded throughout the war, this first group was the one to conceive it. Many of these enlistees were just boys; most had never been away from home before. Navajo Code Talkers played an important role in creating and communicating in a code that the Japanese could not break.

Visuals

Armed forces used hand signals, signal lamps, rockets and flares to communicate visually on the battlefield. For example, troops would often go into action when they saw the pre-arranged visual cue.

In the Navy, signalmen are specially trained visual communicators. One of the more common methods used by signalmen is “semaphore.” Signalmen on a ship use hand-held flags to send messages to nearby ships. The signalman holds a flag in each hand and rotates the flags into certain positions to represent a letter in the alphabet.

Newspapers

Stars and Stripes is a newspaper established by soldiers during the American Civil War. It is still in existence today and reports on matters that affect the members of our Armed Forces. During World War II, both young soldiers and experienced newspapermen in uniform filled the staffs. Some of the editions were assembled and printed very close to the front in order to get the latest information to the most troops.

Messengers

Radios made giving orders easier, but messengers had to be ready to deliver important data that could not be sent over the air. An Army messenger’s job in World War II was primarily to deliver important documents and orders to and from units and higher command. Using a motorcycle or jeep, a soldier would carry documents such as maps, detailed orders and other information to troops. Dogs were also used as messengers and, in the German army, reached a high degree of efficiency.

Homing pigeons were used extensively as one-way messengers. Sending messages with homing pigeons is one of the oldest methods of long-distance communication; Roman armies used them more than 2,000 years ago. In WWII pigeons were the only means of communication for some posts where rough terrain or close proximity to enemy lines made it impossible to string wire or use a radio. Carried in baskets, in a sling under the arm or in a shirtfront, the birds were released under fire and most succeeded in getting through. Pigeons originally carried their message in a tiny capsule fastened to one leg until handlers started attaching a larger capsule, the size of a cigar tube, to the pigeon’s back; this could carry a bigger load, including maps, photos and detailed reports. Very few of these messages were coded, because pigeons were so dependable at reaching their destinations.

This pigeon, named G.I. Joe, completed the most outstanding flight made by an Army Pigeon in WWII. Flying 20 miles from British 10th Army Headquarters in 20 minutes, the message he carried arrived just in time to save the lives of at least 100 Allied soldiers. Because of his actions, G.I. Joe received the Dickin

Medal for gallantry.

Cards used for semaphore training

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WORDS & PHRASES THAT MIGHT BE NEW TO YOU

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Bastogne. – town in southeast Belgium near the Luxembourg border

Battle of the Bulge. – German attack on Allied forces in Belgium toward the end of World War II which caught the Allies by surprise. The name came from the way the Allied front line bulged inward on wartime news maps.

We’re taking flack from the ack ack!flack – bursting explosive shellsack ack – anti-aircraft artillery. In WWI, to avoid confusion from letters which sound alike, the British Army used a phonetic alphabet where letters were pronounced as distinctive words. Anti-aircraft artillery was abbreviated as AA, and pronounced “ack ack.”

You gave me a key, remember, in case I needed to take a night shift in the spotters’ post. – high place where a lookout watches for enemy aircraft

But the bluegills and crappies is running! Bluegills and crappies are both freshwater fish in the sunfish family. The bluegill is the state fish of Illinois.

I brought you my ration coupon. – ticket allowing the purchase of a certain amount of a product each month. Food and other materials needed for the war effort, like rubber tires, leather shoes, clothing and gasoline were all rationed during World War II.

That for a shortwave, Mz Hicks? – radio that transmits and receives on a high frequency range.Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than those used for medium and low frequency bands first used for radio communications. Shortwave radios have an extremely long range, and can broadcast and receive signals from anywhere on earth.

I don’t cotton to people knowing my business, specially not this business! – like, take kindly to

It’s just like Terry and the Pirates, when Terry was sneaking up on a nest of Nazis.Terry and the Pirates was a popular radio show set in the Far East, featuring action, high adventure and foreign intrigue. The show was adapted from a comic strip created by Milton Caniff. It aired 15-minute segments five times a week during WWII. After 1945, with no wartime villains for Terry and his pals to fight, ratings dropped. The final episode aired on June 30, 1948.


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That’s what Bogie smoked in Casablanca.Bogie – actor Humphrey BogartCasablanca – a 1942 American film set in Africa during World War II

It’s just like the forest of the Ardennes, it could be crawling with Nazis. – wooded area that covers parts of Belgium, Luxembourg and France. It was the site of the Battle of the Bulge.

They’re so close I can smell the creosote and gunpowder! – dark flammable tar

He made me listen to the ground to see if it wanted a garden here. Now I’m listening to see if it wants to go fallow. – idle during the growing season

NELL: Opossum.GIRL: A possum?NELL: Opossum. He’s mighty particular about the O.

opossum – any of over 100 species of marsupial mammals of North, South and Central America. Opossums are usually active at night. They have tails that can wrap around and grasp objects (such as tree branches), and are expert climbers. possum – any of about 69 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea and Sulawesi (and introduced to New Zealand and China)

Tuc named him Delano after the President. – Franklin Delano Roosevelt You know my name sign! – special sign in sign language that is used to uniquely identify a person, just like a name

On behalf of the United States Government... and the Geneva Conversation.... I hereby inform you that you are a Prisoner of War...

Buddy confuses the word “conversation” for “convention.” The Geneva Convention refers to a set of standards in international law for humanitarian treatment of the victims of war. The establishment of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland in 1863 led to the First Geneva Convention.

Where’s Ricky’s duffle? – large cylindrical bag made of cloth with a drawstring closure at the top

Cracking the Code

Keeping information away from the enemy is a vital task during wartime. During World War II, personal letters to and from the armed forces were often censored to assure that they did not contain sensitive information, like a soldier’s location. Codes also played an important role in WWII, keeping knowledge about troop movement and strategy secret from enemy forces. There were many kinds of code used, some involving the use of little known languages, like Navajo, to translate messages.

Though it was not used as a code by the military, the language that Tuc, the Deaf mailman uses in The Edge of Peace is one that very few of his fellow townspeople understand—American Sign Language (ASL). Part of the language is the manual alphabet, used to spell words for which there are no other signs.

The message below has been coded using the ASL alphabet. Using the key at the bottom of the page, translate the message. Then use the key to learn to spell your own name in ASL. ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

m4

a n y s o l d i e r s ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

d e p e n d e d o n ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

____ ____ ____ ____

l e t t e r s f r o m ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

h o m e t o k e e p ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

t h e i r s p i r i t s u p ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____

d u r i n g t h e w a r

a b c d e f g h i j k l m a b c d e f g h i j k l m

n o p q r s t u v w x y z n o p q r s t u v w x y z

What does that mean? It’s a slang term for “talking.” Slang is an informal vocabulary made of invented words, changed words and exaggerated or humorous figures of speech. For example: dough, greenbacks, bucks, moolah, C-note and Benjamins are all slang terms for money. Different kinds of slang are often used by different groups. Your friends and family may have slang terms that only you and they use. Even if you don’t know the exact definition of a slang term, you can often guess its meaning by the way it’s used. Try to define the underlined slang terms in these lines from The Edge of Peace: A soldier sits in a foxhole all alone, waiting for the battle to begin. Don’t that just chap you? I am sure Ralph Sitter would rather be picking his own apples himself. I saw you get off the bus and walk into that German POW camp big as life! They hear some kind of foreign talk, mumbo jumbo coming from her house. You scared the liver out of me! I don’t mind giving you store credit if you don’t have cash money, but I will not tolerate you snitching things. I saw something that made me turn right around and hightail it back here. Well I can’t hear a thing with you jaw-jacking. List as many slang terms as you can that you use. Choose a word, create a slang term for it and write a sentence using the slang. Original word: Slang word: Sentence: See if your friends can guess the meaning of the slang by reading your sentence.

BOOKLIST

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For Children & Young Adults:

Fiction:Caleb’s WarsDavid L. Dudley

The Impossible Patriotism ProjectLinda Skeers

Love You, SoldierAmy Hest

The QuiltGary Paulsen

Shooting the MoonFrances O’Roark Dowell

Sunrise Over FallujahWalter Dean Myers

Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal Mal Peet

Weedflower Cynthia Kadohata

WonderstruckBrian Selznick

Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts About PeaceAnna Grossnickle Hines

Love, Lizzie: Letters to a Military MomLisa Tucker McElroy

On the Wings of HeroesRichard PeckLife is happy and peaceful in young Davy Bowman’s Illinois neighborhood until America enters World War II and his older brother enlists in the Air Force. His daily adventures and hijinks are now clouded with worry over his brother’s safety and waiting for his return. A coming of age story that remembers what life was like on the home front while honoring America’s military heroes.

Nonfiction:The Good Fight: How WWII Was WonStephen E. Ambrose

Sign Language for Kids: A Fun & Easy Guide to American Sign LanguageLora Heller

World War II Days: Discover the Past with Exciting Projects, Games, Activities, and RecipesDavid C. KingTravel back to 1942 and experience firsthand what life was like for kids in America during World War II. Make cool toys and crafts, cook up delicious recipes, and play exciting games like Sea Battle.

Booklist prepared by Meghan Sullivan,Pierce County Library System

We’d love to know what was helpful to you as you read and used this guide. Please fill out and return this short survey to us. We appreciate your feedback.

1. For which play/plays did you use the Educator Resource Guide?□ Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat □ The Edge of Peace□ Danny, King of the Basement □ Adventures with Spot□ The Wizard of Oz □ Crash□ Dot & Ziggy

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SCT Educator Resource Guide: The Edge of Peace

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