Joyce Moyer Hostetter

A few years have passed since the previous books in the Bakers Mountain series. Ida and Ellie Honeycutt, the twins, are now starting high school. Ida is an introvert, quiet and artistic, while Ellie is an extrovert, ambitious and fun-loving. For the first time in their lives, they head in somewhat different directions at high school, taking some different classes and finding different friends, but unfortunately, falling for the same boy. Their father, Leroy, is still struggling with PTSD from what he witnessed in World War II. Hearing constant news about the Korean War and atomic bomb development isn't helping him at all. The Hickory Motor Speedway opens, and there's a new form of entertainment in the area, which Ellie loves, but Ida and her father loathe. Though Ann Fay, Junior, little Jackie, and Leroy all have their roles, this book is primarily about the twins.
Chapter 37 is the shortest chapter I've ever read in any book. It was also one of the most powerful.… (meer)

In "Blue" and "Comfort" we got to know Junior Bledsoe, the neighbor, just a little older than Ann Fay, who was always reliable, always there to help, and always did what was right by Ann Fay and her family. In "Aim" we move back in time a few years, and hear Junior's story. A story of a father who was sometimes loving, but sometimes distant and difficult. A story of a grandfather who was just plain mean. A mother, who struggled with the husband she loved, but was perpetually disappointed in. And when Axel Bledsoe, Junior's father, drops dead while out drinking one night, Junior's life becomes much harder. He's the man of the house, but he's only 14, and hasn't learned all he needs to know to be a man yet. He makes some mistakes... some small, and a few pretty big ones, on his path to growing into the older Junior we already know.
You don't have to read "Blue" or "Comfort" before reading this, but seeing Junior's path might mean a little more, already knowing what kind of young man he becomes.… (meer)

Literary Merit: Good
Characterization: Good
Recommended: Yes
Level: Middle School

Drive is a solid historical fiction for middle graders. It tells the story of twins, Ida and Ellie Honeycutt, as they begin their freshman year. The girls are inseparable, but as the school year begins, each begin discovering who they are on their own, while also dealing with familial issues. This newfound independence causes the sisters to grow apart, especially after they fall for the same guy at the local NASCAR race track! Set during the early 1950's, Drive touches on Eisenhower's presidential election and the effects of PTSD on the Honeycutt twin's father. It is a wholesome family tale that is reminiscent of The Waltons.… (meer)

"Comfort" picks up where "Blue" left off. Anne Fay is home from the polio hospital and missing her black friend Imogene. At first, she's excited because her father is back from fighting in World War II, but as time goes along she sees that he didn't come back whole. He is suffering from what we now call post traumatic stress disorder. Anne Fay returns to school to find that wearing her braces and walking with crutches, and also being a year behind because of the time in the polio hospital, make her not fit in very well.
Her salvation comes when she gets sent to the Warm Springs Foundation for physical therapy, and just as importantly, the emotional therapy of being with other people who have suffered the same ordeal she has. Warm Springs seems too good to be true for Anne Fay, a poor farm girl.
Her happy time there comes to an abrupt end when her good friend and neighbor, Junior Bledsoe, shows up unannounced to let her know that her father has, at least a couple of times, hurt her mother.
Fabulous book, but do read "Blue" first.… (meer)