Big War, Little Wars

MWSA Review

This novel is aimed primarily at a young adult audience, and is a clear, easy to read story of a young girl, Milla Jaeger, who lives in a trailer camp in Wisconsin during the Second World War. 

Approaching her thirteenth birthday, Milla is confronting all the normal problems of a young woman who is about to become a teenager, and struggling as well with the changes that the war is having on her society. 

The author succeeds very well in depicting the America of 1944, fleshing out her basic story with radio shows, movies, advertising and letters to portray the pride of wartime alongside the fear, sadness and difficulties that dominated civilian life.

She employs Milla's chore in picking up the family's mail at the trailer camp as a vivid metaphor for Milla's literally "growing" responsibilities.  In placing the Jaeger family in a trailer camp setting, the author deftly makes the point that wartime required shortages of housing, but also highlights the seldom-noted fact that not everyone profited financially from the war.   This is underscored by Milla's father, whose "make do" habits are illustrated by his cutting up old belts to make straps, by careful use of leftover foods and other frugality. 

The characters in the story are well developed, with Milla serving to carry the story line, emphasizing the sadness of the war years through what she sees and hears, what she hopes for but fears may happen, particularly in the case of relatives overseas, in harm’s way.   There is not much mystery to the story, but because it is set in wartime, it has its moments of tension, which are well rendered by the author.

All in all, the novel is very good and underlines the sadness of the “good war.” The actual military content is confined mostly to letters the family receives from a cousin and by the well-written experiences of Milla's Japanese-American friend who is interned until the end of the war.  The book will appeal primarily to the young women that the author has chosen for her audience. 

Reviewed by: Terry Shoptaugh (2015)

Author's Summary

When the bombs drop on Pearl Harbor, Milla Jaeger and her family place their dreams on hold. They had left the Depression and an unprofitable farm behind in a place they call Up North. The war steals sons, fathers, husbands, and lovers. Meat, butter, and sugar are rationed. Children outgrow their shoes before a ration stamp entitles them to new ones. Tires wear thin; gas is intended for essential driving only. But the words "for the war effort" are on everyone’s lips.

Five of Milla’s cousins are serving Uncle Sam. Her bond with Raymie—a sharpshooter—is a mystery even to her. She writes him frequently on V-Mail; she watches for him in Movietone newsreels. But war news triggers nightmares which Milla and her sister, Peggy, keep a secret.

Reno, another of the camp kids, stirs up turmoil as do some of the colorful transients—gypsies, grifters, and dreamers—who pass through Tralmer’s Trailer Camp.

The war becomes more personal when Milla’s American-born Japanese friend Tamika is banned from their malt shop hangout. Fears were aroused when President Roosevelt signed an Executive Order sending Japanese Americans to detainment camps.

Milla’s family cheats death when fumes from the space heater fill the trailer as they sleep. Following their close call, Milla learns of the secret kept from her since she was a toddler. Raymie had saved her from drowning. Her special bond with her cousin finally makes sense.

The spring of 1945 brings sudden death to President Roosevelt, the suicide of Hitler, and V-E Day.

On her first day at West Milwaukee High School, Milla reunites with Tamika. The peace documents have been signed. Tamika wishes she had known that Milla watched for her, hoping to meet by accident since the traumatic event that parted them. Some of Tamika’s relatives had been ordered to detainment camps; a cousin in Japan lost his life as a kamikaze pilot.

Servicemen begin returning home but not Raymie. V-Mail letters are censored. Women had replaced men in the factories. Will they return to their kitchens and trade wages for frilly aprons? War casualties continue even after the last bullet is fired. Two cruisers loaded with returning servicemen are caught in a raging storm on the Atlantic. Is Raymie among them? Milla panics.

Reno and Milla had never been attracted to the same boy, at least not until Milla meets Lee in a Phy Ed dance class. Milla introduces herself as Lu, a nickname the camp kids gave her. When the two accidentally meet at the grocery store, a letter falls from her pocket. Lee learns that her proper name is Ludmilla but those closest to her shortened it to Milla. She is told that Raymie has a special someone awaiting his return. Will there be someone special for her? Milla makes a promise on an evening star—she will not allow Lee his first kiss until Raymie returns.

Before Christmas, a surprise package containing a bracelet is delivered—Milla is etched across its curve. Who sent it? She is forbidden to wear the bracelet until the mystery is solved. Milla recalls the night Lee discovered her nickname on the dropped envelope. Could the mystery gift be from him?

Milla is anxious for Raymie’s first visit after his return to the States. Daddy had told her that war made men of boys; Raymie is no longer the boy who lived in her memory. During a private moment, Raymie gives her a thank-you kiss for her many letters. Milla returns his kiss—one she has practiced on the closet-door mirror—to thank him for saving her life years earlier.

Raymie’s return is bittersweet since another of their cousins is missing in action. Raymie tells of the harrowing journey home after his release from the secret assignment to the Nuremberg Trials. As a sharpshooter, he had been sent there to guard the war criminals prior to their execution. Before Raymie’s release from duty, one of the Nazi prisoners predicts that a powerful storm will occur on the Atlantic. The warning goes unheeded resulting in a further loss of lives.

Raymie notices Milla’s bracelet. Peggy discloses that the gift may be from a star basketball player. Raymie asks if the boy has kissed her yet. He appears skeptical when Milla says no.

Throughout the war years, needs and desires were postponed. Milla is weary of waiting for the future; she feels content in the moment. Milla is now prepared to welcome Lee’s first kiss.