The All-American

by Susie Finkbeiner

Scott County Library paperback 337 pages

Published: 2023

Genre: Christian historical fiction

I loved this book! I was out of town when book club discussed it, but I didn't get this copy from the library until the week after anyhow. (The hazard of selecting brand new books for book club and some people - me - wait until a library has a copy available.) Mixing the Red Scare and "girls" baseball, this novel set in 1952 was incredibly delightful! I love this author even more than I did before!

Since I have about two dozen post-it notes in the book, I may have to be more judicious in what I blog about. There were so, so many things that I loved about her story!

Told from the perspectives of sisters Bertha (teenager) and Flossie (precocious 11-year old), the Harding family is living life in Michigan just like everyone else. When a neighbor accuses Mr. Harding of being a Communist, their lives are turned upside down. This book mixes humor, history, grief, love, and faith in such a beautiful way!

Page 11 - When dreadful home ec teacher Mrs. Higginbottom grabbed her purse and left her class, I thought, "Could that really have happened in 1952?!" I barely leave students in a classroom for two minutes so I can use the bathroom. This blows my mind.

Page 29 - "Good grief, that Holden Caulfield was a whiny boy. 

He certainly was no Gilbert Blythe."

Oh Flossie! She picks up her older sister's book and starts reading The Catcher in the Rye. Her lack of understanding Holden's situation is quickly flipped by her recognition that the boy from Anne of Green Gables is the kind of young man who "made me weak in the knees." I loved all the literary allusions in this book! Like Flossie (Florence), I grew up reading books and being "friends" with my favorite characters.

 

Page 52 - "I hated, hated, hated John Steinbeck. 

And I would hate, hate, hate him forever."

 

Again, Flossie is reading a book she isn't emotionally ready for. Of Mice and Men disturbs her, but at least she can talk with her dad about it. The conversations between the little girl and her literary dad are some of the best parts of this book.

 

Page  56-7 - When Bertha (flashback as a younger girl) writes letters to Dottie Fitzgerald (baseball player) and gets letters back, I loved the impact that this has on Bertha's life! Any time someone in a position of power or authority (or fame) chooses to be a blessing to a youngster, it warms my heart. Dottie's mysterious disappearance from the Workington Sweet Peas (fictional town and team) had me curious. I was so sure she'd gotten pregnant. The truth surprised me, but I'm glad we finally found out where she went.

Page 59 ' "At the end of the day, I went to the public library and, in an act of utter rebellion against Miss Lange, I told Mrs. Maxwell that I wanted to check out a copy of Johnny Tremain. She didn't flinch and she didn't argue that it wasn't a book for me.

Mrs. Maxwell was a good egg."

Miss Lange was Flossie's classroom teacher who told her she couldn't read Johnny Tremain because it was about war and therefore "a boy's book." Mrs. Maxwell is the most excellent librarian who knew Flossie's interests and abilities and encouraged her.

 

Page 66 - "I supposed Dottie had been right. It was easy to forget about everything else when it came to boys. 

But, oh, how fun to be distracted."

 

Although Bertha played baseball with the neighborhood boys and seemed to be very tomboyish, when Leo started being extra sweet to her, she was flattered. Yes, it was fun to be a teenager and to be distracted by guys' attentions!

 

Page  104 - "When I asked him what that word meant, he told me to consult the dictionary. 

I hated when he said that."

Again, Flossie and her dad have such a cool relationship. He used the word "blunderbuss" and she wanted to understand. Throughout the book, he sends her searching the dictionary. I can relate to Flossie because I am curious, too! I like to understand. Nowadays, kids seem to either not care or they just ask their phone, "What does blunderbuss mean?" That's wonderful in some ways and horrid in others.

Page 116 - "The trunk was dusty, a sure sign that things had been good for quite some time. Nobody'd had a need to hid bad news, I supposed."

This was interesting - having a trunk where they put things that signified trouble. News articles, reminders of baby Amos who died young, etc. When things are going well in life, we sometimes forget our sorrow and troubles. 

Page 124 - "It wouldn't have surprised me if they'd all thought that Dad shot bald eagles for sport and used strips of Old Glory instead of toilet paper."

Flossie didn't like kids teasing her before her father was accused of being a Communist, but she is absolutely refusing to go to school after kids get really nasty. Finkbeiner writes with such vivid details. This observation about Flossie's perception of her peers just jumped out at me.

Page 129 - "By Friday I had resigned myself to being as good as Hester Prynne. All I needed was a bright red C to sew onto my dress and a weird little girl following me all over the place.

Well, I did have Flossie."

The rampant fear and accusations of Communism (and black-listing of people) in the 1950s is not funny. Bertha's observation about the way her peers are treating her amused me, though. "Well, I did have Flossie." Oh my! Again, the literary allusion and intelligent observations about human behavior are fantastic.

Page 132 - "He hadn't been embarrassed to be my friend then. It hurt all the worse to think that now he'd only talk to me if he thought nobody was looking."

Bertha is a tough cookie, but Leo giving her the cold shoulder and then suggesting they meet in a very out-of-the-way place makes her sad. The adults in this story! Leo's mom, the bakery lady, the butcher . . . how they could justify their cruelty and hurtfulness (especially toward kids!) is unreal. Based on accusations and suspicions, they mistreated and shunned their neighbors. How awful. I spent a lot of time thinking about the political climate today. People are very quick to pass judgment and shut people with differing opinions out. In Leo's defense, he apologized to Bertha for all of this. He recognized that he was wrong.

Page 135 - "They were, of course, out of tune. But I didn't think that was the time to let them know."

Flossie is being chased by a mean group of boys singing "Catch the Commie" at her. Her observation made me smile. I love Flossie! And Bertha, too. What wonderful characters Finkbeiner wrote.

Page 139 - "That was when Mrs. Maxwell glanced at me and winked.

Maybe there weren't many in the world who were quite so loyal and strong as Anne Shirley. But Mrs. Maxwell was among them. 

I decided that I was glad that I could live in a world where there were librarians."

A "concerned" citizen demands that Mrs. Maxwell remove Mr. Harding's books are removed from the public library. She refuses. She's fantastic. Oh! And between many of the chapters are little news clippings, personal letters, or other things that add to the story and the observations of the two sisters.

Page 156 - "Then Mam winked at me twice with her left eye. That was the signal to me that I should remember to be 'seen and not heard.' I touched the end of my nose to let her know that I got it."

Flossie is impulsive and the Harding family has just shown up at her Uncle Matthew's house for a respite while they look for a new place to live. I love that she and her mother have these signals to communicate expectations and understanding.

Page 160 - 

This is one of those letters I mentioned. Flossie is writing to her brother Chip. This made me laugh! Matthew has been fairly taciturn and his laughter at the mouse made me laugh, too. Sully is their cat (who only truly likes Chip, but Chip's wife Peggy doesn't want a pet).

 

Page 165 - "And Matthew Cuthbert loved Anne just as much as I knew Uncle Matthew loved me, even if he had no idea how to show it."

Flossie makes lots of comparisons between her uncle and another of her favorite literary characters. It was such a sweet observation. This also made me think of Jodi, who likes Anne of Green Gables too.

Page 187 - "Do you think it's okay for me to pray that God changes her mind? I know that we aren't supposed to bother him with silly prayers - I heard that in a sermon one time. But I also recall memorizing the Bible verse that says we should cast our cares onto God because he cares for us.

Do you think God cares about baseball?"

In this letter from Bertha to Leo, my heart was broken by her initial question. So many people have the perception that prayer is only for serious topics. But prayer is about drawing closer to the Lord and having a relationship with Him. Bertha's mother does not want her to try out for the Sweet Peas until after she graduates from high school. But Bertha loves playing baseball and really wants to try out!

SPOILERS AHEAD! STOP HERE IF YOU PLAN TO READ IT YOURSELF.

Page 192-3 - Oh my! Her dad and Uncle Matthew sneak her out of the house and drive her to the tryouts! And when her dad assures her that her mom won't be mad, the glance between her and her uncle show that they both know that's just not correct.

Pages 212-3 - This whole scene where first Bertha and Flossie, then the girls and their uncle get the giggles in church on Easter Sunday . . . oh my. What a delightful book!

Page 216 - "When he finally gave in, we'd been disappointed that it was just full of paper. One hundred forty-seven pieces of paper, to be exact. Each one a rejection."

The girls learned from their dad, and in this scene, Chip is helping Bertha remember the lesson of the mysterious box. Don't give up. Keep trying. Improve and keep at it.

Page 232 - "'We all have our portion of the burden, but God has the lion's share. Trust that, dear heart. I pray you'll come to trust it.'"

Their "Mam" is a wise and wonderful woman. I love that she is both strict with her daughters and very loving. Here she's encouraging Flossie after a tough day.

Page 233 - "The lie of the American dream - the lie we all bought at some point or another - was that we were masters of our own fate.

Work hard, mind your manners, help old ladies cross the road, eat your spinach, say your prayers. That's the way to win the day, get the girl, earn your ride into the sunset.

What we didn't know was that we couldn't strong-arm the American dream into coming true. We mastered nothing. Not one blessed thing."

This is from one of William Harding's "books" excerpted at the start of part four of the book. But it beautifully encapsulates the "All-American" theme of the book. What does it mean to be American? Is our idealized vision of the American dream possible? Are people who raise these questions subversive Communists? This book is amazing.

Page 238 - "I didn't have to ask to know what happened. I'd been in school with a handful of kids with braces just like those. Polio was a nightmare."

It's so strange to me (born in 1966) that most people alive today don't remember what a horrible disease polio was . . . and that polio has a chance to come back due to a few isolated cases from other countries and people's unwillingness to vaccinate their children against this disease. Here, Bertha finally realizes why Dottie disappeared from the Sweet Peas and from communicating with her.

Page 255 - "And his wife's name was . . . oh . . . I could not remember it."

Flossie! Jane Eyre is one of my personal favorites and you refer to Mr. Rochester as "Mr. Richardson" and don't remember who the mad wife in the attic is?! She does remember a few paragraphs later that the name is Bertha, but continues with "Mr. Richardson - or whatever." Ugh!

 

Page 265 - "I wondered if William Shakespeare really was as great as everybody seemed to think he was. After all, how good could a writer be if everything he wrote was so doggone hard to understand?"

Flossie makes me laugh with this observation. I also loved when she referred to Shakespeare as someone who lived a thousand years ago and Lizzie corrects her. Oh! And I love that she becomes friends with Lizzie and doesn't ditch her for the mean girls. This book was great.

Page 275 - "'Be slow to talk and quick to listen,' Mam was always telling me, advice I couldn't recall ever taking."

I love that in this instance, she does follow her mother's advice. She is a good friend to Lizzie and listens to her.

I should go back and re-read this post to clean up any errors, but this has taken long enough and I want to move on with my day! Plus, I'll need to get reading the October book club title which I have on the Libby app. Onward! Finkbeiner rocks!