Janey G. Blue: Pearl Harbor, 1941

American Diaries #18

by Kathleen Duey

Living in Hawaii makes the war feel very remote to Janey--until, without warning, bombs begin to fall on that infamous day in December, causing Janey and her family to run for their lives.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

Library Binding

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Kathleen Duey grew up in Colorado. She loved riding her horses, hiking, being in the mountains. Reading was always important to her. Writing became a fascination early in her life. In the fourth grade, Kathleen began writing stories and told everyone who would listen that she was going to be an author. Then she did nothing about it until she was 35 years old. Writing was her passion and her dream-come-true.

from: fantasticfiction.co.uk

Kathleen died of cardiac arrest at her home in Fallbrook, California. She was 69. She had struggled with dementia in her latter years which prevented her from completing her Skin Hunger trilogy.

https://web.archive.org/web/202101052...

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twelve-year-old Janey, her parents, and her four-year-old brother Michael have left their home in Kansas to live on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. It's December 1941, and Janey's father, a welder, has been hired by the military to work at Hickman Airfield, near Pearl Harbor. Janey loves the beauty of her new home, but she is terrified by the threat of war between the United States and Japan, which could lead to an invasion of Hawaii. On the peaceful Sunday morning of December 7, without warning, Japanese planes attack. Janey and her mother and brother are separated from her father. They are forced to evacuate their home, but Janey is determined to return - because she knows in her heart that her father can't be dead, and that she will see him again. This was an excellent new book in the American Diaries series that captured the terror of the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, as faced by the many civilian families living on the island.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Janey Blue is in the sixth grade in Hawaii. Her father works at Pearl Harbor. There are Japanese Americans that live near them.

While she and her mother and brother are listening to the radio the attack on Pearl Harbor begins. The three flee their house and pick up a girl, Akiko, from across the street, a Japanese American. Later she worries that the white people will turn against those like her who look like the enemy but are actually Americans.
The story then covers their leaving their homes and seeking shelter in a sugar cane field, then being moved by troops to a temporary refuge. Later they return to their home and then go to a refugee camp.


This is a very good book, especially in that it deals with the immediate aftermath of the attack and how common people reacted to the attack and what they had to do.

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

A laudable effort, but pretty boring. Twelve-year-old Janey, her parents and her little brother are living in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor is bombed. The entire book spans just a couple of days. Janey bonds with a neighbor girl, Akiko, since they are both frightened and worried about family members. The basic points are that war is bad, but people are good and can be friends in spite of differences. A good message, but there's almost no plot or character development, so the book falls flat.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a really good book i liked it alot!!!

[Susan Phelan]

Sometimes I worry about reading the diary-type books. They are not my favorite. But this one was enjoyable.
Entire action is only a couple of days around Pearl Harbor.

[Lottd]

I brought this book when I was at the Arizona in Hawaii and I just loved it, it had great drama