Romeo Blue by Phoebe Stone
Publisher: Scholastic/Levine
Published June 2013
ISBN 978-0-545-44360-9

During World War II Nazi submarines lurked in the coastal waters off the United States. In the early months of the war they sank many ships leaving Portland, Maine with supplies for England.

Romeo Blue recieves Parent’s Choice Silver Honor Book Award for Fiction

Felicity Bathburn, called Fliss, was brought from England by her parents, the beautiful Winnie and Danny, to live with her grandmother, “The Gram” and Uncle Gideon in the old family home on the coast of Maine while they returned to fight in the war in Europe. Fliss doesn’t know where they are or what they are doing. A foster child, Derek, also lives with them, and Fliss and Derek become close friends. Derek complicates their life by trying to locate his biological father with the help of a neighbor whom Fliss considers entirely too nosy.

During WWII, Maine was a hotbed of intrigue. German submarines lurked in the coastal waters and spies moved on land. Though worried about her parents and embroiled in family intrigues galore, Fliss tries to help Derek. He unwittingly brings a spy right into the home, and, to round out the complications, the war adds a small girl to this loving menagerie.

Romeo Blue is a beautiful butterfly, a motif that twines through this wonderful coming-of-age story. Fliss is a delightful, thoughtful protagonist living through a difficult period.

by Karen Nix © Parent’s Choice

For more information about Parents Choice Organization, see their web site.

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