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Keep Smiling Through: A Historical Novel About a Girl's Determination During World War II for Kids
A ten-year-old girl growing up during World War II learns the painful lesson that doing what's right is not always easy.
Includes a reader's guide.
Includes a reader's guide.
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
8 people are currently reading
355 people want to read
About the author
Ann Rinaldi
69 books987 followersAnn Rinaldi (b. August 27, 1934, in New York City) is a young adult fiction author. She is best known for her historical fiction, including In My Father's House, The Last Silk Dress, An Acquaintance with Darkness, A Break with Charity, and Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons. She has written a total of forty novels, eight of which were listed as notable by the ALA. In 2000, Wolf by the Ears was listed as one the best novels of the preceding twenty-five years, and later of the last one hundred years. She is the most prolific writer for the Great Episode series, a series of historical fiction novels set during the American Colonial era. She also writes for the Dear America series.
Rinaldi currently lives in Somerville, New Jersey, with her husband, Ron, whom she married in 1960. Her career, prior to being an author, was a newspaper columnist. She continued the column, called The Trentonian, through much of her writing career. Her first published novel, Term Paper, was written in 1979. Prior to this, she wrote four unpublished books, which she has called "terrible." She became a grandmother in 1991.
Rinaldi says she got her love of history from her eldest son, who brought her to reenactments. She says that she writes young adult books "because I like to write them."
Rinaldi currently lives in Somerville, New Jersey, with her husband, Ron, whom she married in 1960. Her career, prior to being an author, was a newspaper columnist. She continued the column, called The Trentonian, through much of her writing career. Her first published novel, Term Paper, was written in 1979. Prior to this, she wrote four unpublished books, which she has called "terrible." She became a grandmother in 1991.
Rinaldi says she got her love of history from her eldest son, who brought her to reenactments. She says that she writes young adult books "because I like to write them."
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April 11, 2011I think this book is great because it's talking about a girl called ann ,she survived in World War 2 with her stepmother,father,sister and brother . Her stepmother was German and take over ann's happiness and ruined her life , while ann was at school she met a friend called
October 27, 2018
I absolutely bawled. I wanted to climb into this book and rescue her from that horrible step mother. Bonus that it was set in the 1940's.
January 1, 2025
"'Nobody wants to work anymore.'"
Not as good as some of her other books, but I always love a good historical fiction. Haven't read a 1940s book in a little bit, so it was interesting to go back in time and imagine life with radio programs. I wish there had been more to this, though.
Not as good as some of her other books, but I always love a good historical fiction. Haven't read a 1940s book in a little bit, so it was interesting to go back in time and imagine life with radio programs. I wish there had been more to this, though.
August 29, 2016
This is the story of Kay, the younger sister of two older brothers, living on a farm in New Jersey during WW2. She and her brothers are chiefly entertained by radio shows and playing in the countryside, and her brothers save their allowance to purchase radio-show tie-in merchandise they send away for. Kay is too young to receive allowance. Their mother died when Kay was born, and their father married another woman, "Amazing" Grace, so nicknamed by the black housekeeper, Queenie, who has been a steady support to Kay. Grace is a mean step-mother who insists that the children do a lot of work around the house while she keeps the special-rationed items like Bosco for chocolate milk for herself. Queenie finally decides she has had enough and leaves in the middle of the night (after saying good-bye to Kay). Around the same time, Kay's best friend, fellow non-conformist, Jennifer, finds out her brother is MIA in Europe, and the Golden Band of popular girls suddenly absorbs her, leaving Kay alone at school. Kay does her best, bravely going to see Mrs. Leudloff (a Nazi spy?) for eggs instead of the regular Jewish family at Grace's insistence. One day, Kay and Grace's German father walk over to his friend Ernie's for ice cream, and Kay overhears a conversation they have about "the old country" and Hitler's plans. Ernie gives Grandpa a pamphlet that turns out to be Nazi propaganda, and all of a sudden, a group of vigilantes comes and attacks Grandpa for being a Nazi while throwing a rock through Ernie's window. Kay gets the license number but is conflicted about what to say about the pamphlet and conversation she overheard. Ultimately, she makes a brave choice, but it doesn't work out the way it does in the radio shows.
While the story is a generally good one emphasizing following your own sense of right and wrong, it felt like a dated viewpoint. I did not appreciate the use of the epithet "Japs" even though it was realistic for Kay and her family to use it. I did appreciate that Mrs. Leudloff ended up being a sympathetic character. Part of what I didn't like was the author's note at the beginning, written in 1995, that said, among other things, "as a generation of youngsters we did not grow up hating, vicious, fearful, or dysfunctional...most of the kids I grew up with became whole, contributing citizens, stayed married to their original mates, raised good children, worked hard, and took their lumps as they came, without complaining." While I am sure this was Rinaldi's experience, it sounded so much like a Beaver Cleaver kind of viewpoint that swept a lot of the hate and dysfunction under the rug.
While the story is a generally good one emphasizing following your own sense of right and wrong, it felt like a dated viewpoint. I did not appreciate the use of the epithet "Japs" even though it was realistic for Kay and her family to use it. I did appreciate that Mrs. Leudloff ended up being a sympathetic character. Part of what I didn't like was the author's note at the beginning, written in 1995, that said, among other things, "as a generation of youngsters we did not grow up hating, vicious, fearful, or dysfunctional...most of the kids I grew up with became whole, contributing citizens, stayed married to their original mates, raised good children, worked hard, and took their lumps as they came, without complaining." While I am sure this was Rinaldi's experience, it sounded so much like a Beaver Cleaver kind of viewpoint that swept a lot of the hate and dysfunction under the rug.
December 7, 2017
I read this book on Independence Day because it was my turn to do the book review and I hadn't read anything new in the past weeks. This book only took me two hours to read at the most, I don't know for certain because I wasn't looking at the clock. I didn't put it down once.
Writing: 5/5
There is something about Ann Rinaldi's books that make them really good and hard to put down (at least the two I've read so far, but I'm pretty sure the others, at least most of them, are just as good). The writing was great. Superb deep POV, good story structure, vivid descriptions, and engaging dialogue, this book was everything it should have been and more. It didn't have any typos that I noticed either, and was tastefully formatted (such as I know about these things, which isn't much, but the inside was pleasing to the eye). Well-written all round.
Setting: 5/5
The book is set in New Jersey in 1944. Of all the World War II books I've read about Americans, this one seemed like it had the most accurate portrayal. Perhaps that was because the author grew up during World War II. I would assume since the author actually lived through World War II it's historically accurate; it certainly seemed so. The main girl goes to a Catholic school and there is quite a bit of emphasis on the radio programs. Kay Hennings' world seemed very real.
Plot: 5/5
I can't say much about the plot for fear of giving anything away. What I can say is that it is good. Really good. It's exciting, intriguing...and if I say anything more I'll be sure to blab something.
Characters: 5/5
They just all felt so real. They were so rounded. Kay had a mean stepmother, Amazing Grace, yet Amazing Grace was more than just mean. Unlike many evil stepmothers in stories, and I could name a few, Amazing Grace was a real person. So was Kay's dad, who mostly just wanted peace. And money. Martin, one of Kay's brothers, was wonderfully done. Tom, her other brother, was barely in it, but for the time he was, he was a real person, too. And her sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. so very different, yet the same as well. They weren't cardboard characters or one-sided, but multi-dimensional. And Kay herself. I'm really not sure what to say about her. But I liked her. A lot.
One of the things I really liked about this book was how all of the loose ends were tied up; not one left hanging. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who can read.
Writing: 5/5
There is something about Ann Rinaldi's books that make them really good and hard to put down (at least the two I've read so far, but I'm pretty sure the others, at least most of them, are just as good). The writing was great. Superb deep POV, good story structure, vivid descriptions, and engaging dialogue, this book was everything it should have been and more. It didn't have any typos that I noticed either, and was tastefully formatted (such as I know about these things, which isn't much, but the inside was pleasing to the eye). Well-written all round.
Setting: 5/5
The book is set in New Jersey in 1944. Of all the World War II books I've read about Americans, this one seemed like it had the most accurate portrayal. Perhaps that was because the author grew up during World War II. I would assume since the author actually lived through World War II it's historically accurate; it certainly seemed so. The main girl goes to a Catholic school and there is quite a bit of emphasis on the radio programs. Kay Hennings' world seemed very real.
Plot: 5/5
I can't say much about the plot for fear of giving anything away. What I can say is that it is good. Really good. It's exciting, intriguing...and if I say anything more I'll be sure to blab something.
Characters: 5/5
They just all felt so real. They were so rounded. Kay had a mean stepmother, Amazing Grace, yet Amazing Grace was more than just mean. Unlike many evil stepmothers in stories, and I could name a few, Amazing Grace was a real person. So was Kay's dad, who mostly just wanted peace. And money. Martin, one of Kay's brothers, was wonderfully done. Tom, her other brother, was barely in it, but for the time he was, he was a real person, too. And her sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. so very different, yet the same as well. They weren't cardboard characters or one-sided, but multi-dimensional. And Kay herself. I'm really not sure what to say about her. But I liked her. A lot.
One of the things I really liked about this book was how all of the loose ends were tied up; not one left hanging. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who can read.
February 3, 2016
Kay is in the fifth grade growing up during the years of the second world war. Her stepmother is ultra-nasty, hateful, bitter, and mistreats Kay all the time. Her father doesn't stand up for her at all, and her life overall is pretty rough.
This doesn't count the problems she has at school, where her living in the countryside sort of puts her out of the in-city school kids cliques. Nothing she does satisfies her step-mother or almost anyone else, for that matter.
Things get more difficult when she finds out her Uncle is talking to a guy who is giving out pro-Nazi pamphlets. She has to figure out what is the right thing to do, although doing the right thing is no guarantee of acceptance or absence of punishment.
This is a somewhat different book for Ann Rinaldi, as it's not based on any famous historical personage. The book is still pretty good, although there are too many references to radio shows of he time, almost as if the author consulted a book on the subject and wanted to use as many references to the shows as possible, when fewer would have done just as well.
It is interesting how many of Rinaldi's novels involve a mother/step-mother who is really, really nasty.
This doesn't count the problems she has at school, where her living in the countryside sort of puts her out of the in-city school kids cliques. Nothing she does satisfies her step-mother or almost anyone else, for that matter.
Things get more difficult when she finds out her Uncle is talking to a guy who is giving out pro-Nazi pamphlets. She has to figure out what is the right thing to do, although doing the right thing is no guarantee of acceptance or absence of punishment.
This is a somewhat different book for Ann Rinaldi, as it's not based on any famous historical personage. The book is still pretty good, although there are too many references to radio shows of he time, almost as if the author consulted a book on the subject and wanted to use as many references to the shows as possible, when fewer would have done just as well.
It is interesting how many of Rinaldi's novels involve a mother/step-mother who is really, really nasty.
April 4, 2009
Keep Smiling Through is a lovely book. Just like Ann Rinaldi’s other novels there is a strong female character who speaks about life truths in a very straightforward almost painfully honest way.
I really like the theme in this one. You can do the right thing but things can still turn out badly. And I like the title, too.
Kay is a girl growing up in World War II. The story starts out when her best friend learns that her brother has been killed and suddenly all the popular girls flock to her, leaving Kay out. And her runaway slave housekeeper who she was very close to runs away. Her stepmother is oppressive. But she finds a way to live on without too much misery.
And then she is faced with a decision wether or not to support her family or her country. She gets conflicted opinions on all sides and has to make her own choice.
I really like the theme in this one. You can do the right thing but things can still turn out badly. And I like the title, too.
Kay is a girl growing up in World War II. The story starts out when her best friend learns that her brother has been killed and suddenly all the popular girls flock to her, leaving Kay out. And her runaway slave housekeeper who she was very close to runs away. Her stepmother is oppressive. But she finds a way to live on without too much misery.
And then she is faced with a decision wether or not to support her family or her country. She gets conflicted opinions on all sides and has to make her own choice.
October 19, 2014
I often find it difficult to review children/young adult literature especially after I spend a significant amount of time reading non-fiction. That being said, this is a good book. I have always enjoyed Ann Rinaldi's works.
I found the family situation depressingly sad and heartbreakingly realistic. I kept hoping for some sort of resolution, a sign that the outcome for the family would be much brighter than how it began. Rinaldi skillfully kept that out of the narrative.
The "voice" of the child narrator felt authentic if a teeny bit too old for the 10 years of the narrator.
I also appreciated the setting. This was a World War II story without the overwhelming focus on the war, a good way to show that life went on throughout the war. I would have loved more depth and length but this book was pretty good for a children's story.
I found the family situation depressingly sad and heartbreakingly realistic. I kept hoping for some sort of resolution, a sign that the outcome for the family would be much brighter than how it began. Rinaldi skillfully kept that out of the narrative.
The "voice" of the child narrator felt authentic if a teeny bit too old for the 10 years of the narrator.
I also appreciated the setting. This was a World War II story without the overwhelming focus on the war, a good way to show that life went on throughout the war. I would have loved more depth and length but this book was pretty good for a children's story.
March 27, 2013
gr 5-8 188 pgs
small town in New Jersey 1944/1945. 10 year old Kay never knew her mother since she died when Kay was born. Instead she has only had "Amazing" Grace as a stepmother. No matter how hard she tries, Kay can never seem to please her. When Kay witnesses her grandfather is attacked after being given Nazi propaganda, she is torn. Should she tell the whole truth about the attack?
The story includes a lot of information about the daily sacrifices that people made (sugar rationing, limit of 2 pairs of shoes a year)to support the war effort.
small town in New Jersey 1944/1945. 10 year old Kay never knew her mother since she died when Kay was born. Instead she has only had "Amazing" Grace as a stepmother. No matter how hard she tries, Kay can never seem to please her. When Kay witnesses her grandfather is attacked after being given Nazi propaganda, she is torn. Should she tell the whole truth about the attack?
The story includes a lot of information about the daily sacrifices that people made (sugar rationing, limit of 2 pairs of shoes a year)to support the war effort.
February 19, 2019
This books strength is in its story. The book seems to have a theme of self worth so anyone who feels down and sad should read this book. The pacing is quite slow and that might turn away many readers. Some very realistic parts of the book are the ones where you see how poor the family really is. Some unrealistic things happened towards the middle of the book but no spoilers. The author can make you care about the main character, but the author really didn’t pace the book well. I would recommend this book to certain people.
May 20, 2009
I love Ann Rinaldi. All her books are just so fantastic. This one really stands out for me because unlike the others there isn't really any romance in it. which isn't good or bad, just different. Also, it was just a great book. Mrs. Rinaldi captures the whole feeling of the time period beautifully.
I also really liked the Glen Miller's Orchestra and the Shadow references <3.
I also really liked the Glen Miller's Orchestra and the Shadow references <3.
February 23, 2012
When I was younger I read this book almost every year. I loved the story, though it is more of a depressing tale. But there is something about it, something really life that draws you in. Life isn't always easy, but we cannot give up. And I think that is the lesson most clearly seen here. One pities Kay but admires her. It is a very interesting story.
June 8, 2012
Kay, a 10-year-old girl, is growing up in New Jersey during WWII. Kay's mother died when she was born, and she had a stepmother who is bitter, angry, and hateful. Kay wants to be a hero like the stars of the radio programs her family listens to, but when she has to make a painful decision, she finds that "You can do the right thing but things can still turn out badly."
November 12, 2013
This was a really great quick read. I felt sorry for the main character though and felt that she didn't get the great ending that she deserved. I love Ann Rinaldi and this was one of the more resent historical books I've read from her. The reason I didn't give it five stars was because I felt there were too many radio references. If you took all those out the book would be 30 pages shorter.
August 23, 2015
This one was kind of sad... alright, a lot sad. I mean, really depressing. But no tears were shed! It was too short for me to really get into the book... and the characters were... well, bland. The story itself was great, though. Plus I love a good WWII historical fiction. 3 stars!
- Emily @ forthebookish.com
- Emily @ forthebookish.com
March 21, 2017
Ann's books are always so well written! In a twist from what I'm used to reading by her, this story takes place in a time when she was alive to witness everything happening around her. The little period details made all the difference in this story from an author who still probably did a lot of research before writing the first word. Ann never disappoints!
June 18, 2015
This is a nostalgic look at the life of a young girl here in America during the difficult times of WW II. Rich with tender moments and the young girl searching for meaning and value, the story highlights her bravery in the midst of difficult decisions.
October 15, 2008
a spunky book with history thrown in. One of the better historical fictions about the home front that we have read. From beginning to end it is a page turner.
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February 7, 2009It was a amazing book! About a girl growing up during World War 2! And has to survive with her mean stepmother.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2009
good book
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March 3, 2010Amazing book. It's for those of you who like to read about life for young kids back in the early days.
March 14, 2011
Ten year old Kay, living with her family in NJ during WWII, makes the painful discovery that doing the right thing is not always easy and often has unexpected consequences
childhood-reads
November 7, 2013v
March 24, 2014
This book showed a girl who was always being blamed of something.She finds her cougare and bravey and her trust.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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July 3, 2024So meaningful
April 22, 2022
Fun book for kids. A little over the top in some places, but enjoyable. I would let my kids read it, around 6th grade, if ever I have kids to let read.
May 2, 2021
More meaningful for me to read as an adult then when I read this in my pre-teen years. However, I would recommend this for anyone.
This book gives hope and is a needed reminder to keep trying our best (keep smiling through), keep moving forward, and doing what is right, especially when life is is hard.
This book gives hope and is a needed reminder to keep trying our best (keep smiling through), keep moving forward, and doing what is right, especially when life is is hard.
October 16, 2025
Cute historical fiction about a little girl in America trying to make sense about WW2 as she grows up a little more each day after some hard things in her life living with her older siblings and her unhinged stepmother.
December 22, 2021
WW2 historical fiction told through the lens of 10 year old Kay as she and her family “do their part for the war effort.”
September 5, 2025
One of my favorite books that I found at the library growing up.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews