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Small War of Sergeant Donkey
Donkeys by the hundreds! Twelve-year-old Chico Filippo, whose own donkeys were confiscated years before by the German army, can t stay away from the newly set up American Remount Depot. Here, in the last months of World War II in Italy, thousands of supply mules and donkeys are processed and sent onto the fierce mountain fighting in the Apennines. One of the handlers introduces Chico to a small courageous animal the boy names Sergeant Donkey. Drawn into friendship and then into unexpected danger, Chico must demonstrate his own simple courage. More than an animal or war story, this short book has a depth of truth about people of different ages and nationalities who still share a common love of the land and of human dignity. Age 8-up"
87 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
5 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Maureen Daly
33 books55 followersMaureen Daly, a writer whose first novel, “Seventeenth Summer,” anticipated the young-adult genre by decades when it appeared in 1942 and has endured as a classic coming-of-age story, died on Monday, Sep 25, 2006 in Palm Desert, Calif. She was 85.
The cause was non-Hodgkins lymphoma, her sister, Sheila Daly White, said.
Written when Ms. Daly was a teenager and published while she was still in college, “Seventeenth Summer” told the story of Angie and Jack, two teenagers who fall in love during one enchanted summer in a Wisconsin lakeside town. Written in a straightforward, unpretentious style, the book is full of innocent pastimes — boating on the lake, Cokes at the corner drugstore — mingled with more grown-up pleasures like beer and cigarettes.
Reviewing the novel in The New York Times Book Review, Edith H. Walton wrote:
“By a kind of miracle, and perhaps because she is so close to an experience not easy to recapture, Miss Daly has made an utterly enchanting book out of this very fragile little story — one which rings true and sweet and fresh and sound.”
Published originally by Dodd, Mead & Company and most recently in 2002 by Simon & Schuster, “Seventeenth Summer” has sold more than a million copies worldwide, according to the reference book Authors and Artists for Young Adults.
Though fiction about adolescents was nothing new in the 1940’s — among its eminent practitioners had been Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington and Louisa May Alcott — the concept of novels specifically earmarked for adolescents would not exist until the late 1960’s, ushered in by writers like Paul Zindel and S. E. Hinton.
Yet a quarter-century earlier, “Seventeenth Summer” anticipated many of these authors’ concerns, as Teri Lesesne, a professor of library science at Sam Houston State University and a specialist in young-adult literature, explained in a telephone interview yesterday.
“For ’42, this is a pretty avant-garde young woman: she smokes, she drinks, she dates,” Ms. Lesesne said. “She thinks about more than a chaste kiss at the end of a date.”
Maureen Patricia Daly was born on March 15, 1921, in Castlecaulfield, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She came to the United States with her family as a young child.
When Ms. Daly was 15, her short story “Fifteen” was published in Scholastic magazine. The next year she wrote another story, fittingly titled “Sixteen,” that was included in the O. Henry collection of 1938, which gathered together the best short stories of the previous year. Then, working in the basement of her parents’ home in Fond du Lac, Wis., she began “Seventeenth Summer.”
After earning undergraduate degrees in English and Latin from Rosary College in River Forest., Ill., Ms. Daly worked as a reporter and book critic for The Chicago Tribune. She was later on the staff of Ladies’ Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post.
Among her many other books are the young-adult novels “Acts of Love” (1986) and “First a Dream” (1990), both published by Scholastic, and “Mention My Name in Mombasa: The Unscheduled Adventures of an American Family Abroad” (Dodd, Mead, 1958), a travel memoir written with her husband, William P. McGivern, a well-known crime novelist.
Ms. Daly’s husband died in 1982; her daughter, Megan McGivern Shaw, died in 1983 at the age of 35. Besides her sister, Ms. White, of Manhattan, she is survived by a son, Patrick McGivern, of Palm Desert, and two grandchildren.
In an interview quoted in the reference book Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, Ms. Daly recalled the special urgency — akin to grasping quicksilver — that gave rise to “Seventeenth Summer.”
“I was so wildly and vividly happy about love and life at a particular time in my existence,” she said. “I wanted to get all that fleeting excitement down on paper before it passed, or I forg
The cause was non-Hodgkins lymphoma, her sister, Sheila Daly White, said.
Written when Ms. Daly was a teenager and published while she was still in college, “Seventeenth Summer” told the story of Angie and Jack, two teenagers who fall in love during one enchanted summer in a Wisconsin lakeside town. Written in a straightforward, unpretentious style, the book is full of innocent pastimes — boating on the lake, Cokes at the corner drugstore — mingled with more grown-up pleasures like beer and cigarettes.
Reviewing the novel in The New York Times Book Review, Edith H. Walton wrote:
“By a kind of miracle, and perhaps because she is so close to an experience not easy to recapture, Miss Daly has made an utterly enchanting book out of this very fragile little story — one which rings true and sweet and fresh and sound.”
Published originally by Dodd, Mead & Company and most recently in 2002 by Simon & Schuster, “Seventeenth Summer” has sold more than a million copies worldwide, according to the reference book Authors and Artists for Young Adults.
Though fiction about adolescents was nothing new in the 1940’s — among its eminent practitioners had been Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington and Louisa May Alcott — the concept of novels specifically earmarked for adolescents would not exist until the late 1960’s, ushered in by writers like Paul Zindel and S. E. Hinton.
Yet a quarter-century earlier, “Seventeenth Summer” anticipated many of these authors’ concerns, as Teri Lesesne, a professor of library science at Sam Houston State University and a specialist in young-adult literature, explained in a telephone interview yesterday.
“For ’42, this is a pretty avant-garde young woman: she smokes, she drinks, she dates,” Ms. Lesesne said. “She thinks about more than a chaste kiss at the end of a date.”
Maureen Patricia Daly was born on March 15, 1921, in Castlecaulfield, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She came to the United States with her family as a young child.
When Ms. Daly was 15, her short story “Fifteen” was published in Scholastic magazine. The next year she wrote another story, fittingly titled “Sixteen,” that was included in the O. Henry collection of 1938, which gathered together the best short stories of the previous year. Then, working in the basement of her parents’ home in Fond du Lac, Wis., she began “Seventeenth Summer.”
After earning undergraduate degrees in English and Latin from Rosary College in River Forest., Ill., Ms. Daly worked as a reporter and book critic for The Chicago Tribune. She was later on the staff of Ladies’ Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post.
Among her many other books are the young-adult novels “Acts of Love” (1986) and “First a Dream” (1990), both published by Scholastic, and “Mention My Name in Mombasa: The Unscheduled Adventures of an American Family Abroad” (Dodd, Mead, 1958), a travel memoir written with her husband, William P. McGivern, a well-known crime novelist.
Ms. Daly’s husband died in 1982; her daughter, Megan McGivern Shaw, died in 1983 at the age of 35. Besides her sister, Ms. White, of Manhattan, she is survived by a son, Patrick McGivern, of Palm Desert, and two grandchildren.
In an interview quoted in the reference book Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, Ms. Daly recalled the special urgency — akin to grasping quicksilver — that gave rise to “Seventeenth Summer.”
“I was so wildly and vividly happy about love and life at a particular time in my existence,” she said. “I wanted to get all that fleeting excitement down on paper before it passed, or I forg
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 29, 2023
This is a darling WW2 read!
Synopsis: Young Chico is lonely - for his farm, for the animals taken by the Germans, for his lost parents and grandfather, and for the old life in general. But that's before a certain sergeant from Missouri comes into his life. When 'Sergeant Missouri' finds himself in danger, will Chico's love for his new friend give him the courage to do the impossible?
What we loved:
Chico - he's a dear boy! He tries so hard to be the 'man of the family' for his sisters and brother, and he's so brave and such a true friend!
Sergeant Missouri (from the 'Show-Me' state!) - he represents America well. Kind, strong, brave...and just your ordinary American boy, all at once.
What we hated:
That the Germans destroyed so many lives - sniff!
What made us laugh:
Sergeant Missouri finds Chico napping in the sun when they first meet, decides to 'tuck him in bed with a prayer': "Now I lay me down to sleep..." and wakes him up instead! Also, any scene with the adorable Brother Honeycake is full of humour!
What made us cry:
There is a deep sweetness to the relationship between the sergeant and Chico - a big brotherliness, mixed with comradeship and a shared love of farming, animals and the land. It's very moving.
Warnings and Caveats:
The sergeant smokes in one scene.
The Italian characters are Catholic, so there is some adoration of Mary and characters who are monks. We are Protestants, and did not find it offensive.
Synopsis: Young Chico is lonely - for his farm, for the animals taken by the Germans, for his lost parents and grandfather, and for the old life in general. But that's before a certain sergeant from Missouri comes into his life. When 'Sergeant Missouri' finds himself in danger, will Chico's love for his new friend give him the courage to do the impossible?
What we loved:
Chico - he's a dear boy! He tries so hard to be the 'man of the family' for his sisters and brother, and he's so brave and such a true friend!
Sergeant Missouri (from the 'Show-Me' state!) - he represents America well. Kind, strong, brave...and just your ordinary American boy, all at once.
What we hated:
That the Germans destroyed so many lives - sniff!
What made us laugh:
Sergeant Missouri finds Chico napping in the sun when they first meet, decides to 'tuck him in bed with a prayer': "Now I lay me down to sleep..." and wakes him up instead! Also, any scene with the adorable Brother Honeycake is full of humour!
What made us cry:
There is a deep sweetness to the relationship between the sergeant and Chico - a big brotherliness, mixed with comradeship and a shared love of farming, animals and the land. It's very moving.
Warnings and Caveats:
The sergeant smokes in one scene.
The Italian characters are Catholic, so there is some adoration of Mary and characters who are monks. We are Protestants, and did not find it offensive.
May 19, 2009
Entertaining book. Learning about WWII using an Italian boy and a donkey.
Want to read
March 26, 2015This has been put on hold. Jacob is currently reading his story bible to dad at night instead. 3/4/15
January 12, 2010
Great story, a little slow off the mark, but finished with a bang! The kids really enjoyed it!
August 5, 2015
Good for 4th grade book report.
June 6, 2024
I really liked the characters, the history, and the storyline. Who knew mules and donkeys were still being used right along with tanks and planes in World War II? The only drawback for me was the style--it just felt really dry and hard to get through, even though it was a children's book. One other note, just in case anyone cares, this does take place in Italy, so there are a number of references to Catholic distinctives (monks, priests, statues of Mary, etc.) as part of daily life. I really did like the story overall; I just had a really hard time with the style for some reason.
April 24, 2020
This was a good WW2 story of the small war of Sergeant Donkey, Chico and Sergeant Missouri. We enjoyed reading it together as a family. I would have give it 5 stars if it was just a little longer, perhaps had an epilogue the tell a little more of the tale.
February 18, 2024
I loved the short, simple tale of Chico, the GI and donkey he befriended and his view of WW II from his 12 year old view.
A beautiful, sweet tale that reminds us of how, even in the worst of circumstances, kindness and love can shine.
A beautiful, sweet tale that reminds us of how, even in the worst of circumstances, kindness and love can shine.
December 9, 2025
I was forced to read this with my kids for school. You want a more interesting read? For free? Open notepad. Voila! Better story than this. It's lauded as some religiously stinted story. I don't see any of it as religious.
Want to read
January 21, 2021interesting story
August 28, 2016
I read this book aloud to my 7 year old son at bedtime. He is a huge history buff already, and is particularly interested in the World Wars, so this book was right up his alley! It wasn't my cup of tea, but it was a good story that kept my attention for the most part, and he completely loved it, so I gave it 4 stars. Fortunately, we started reading it at the weekend, because this was a book that prompted lots of "please don't stop reading!....please read a little more, please!", lol. So a book that I had planned to read over a week, we read in 2 nights. He has already decided that this one must be read again in a few months, though he will probably read it to himself next time. :)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews