With all my heart, I wanted to give this book 5 stars. I'm not particularly sure why I didn't fall completely in love with this story, but I didn't. I liked it a a lot, but I didn't love it. 
 One thing I did like and hate, was the fact that this was written from the perspective of the boy-crazy and faster maturing girl. Usually these kinds of stories are written from the girl who is lagging behind. 
 Yet, I think this is also why I didn't fall completely in love with it-- I was always the friend of the boy crazy girls, so I didn't really feel too bad for Julia. 
 I really appreciate that Nora Raleigh Baskin put in facts about the war and brought up issues of kids with parents serving in the army. 
 There were parts I truly loved and it brought back memories of this time in my life, but there where more parts that i felt fell flat.