Francis Moss

Operation Overlord by Francis Moss was a winner for me. As the librarian for the school, we are always looking for books for middle school boys. This has all the parts necessary to keep their suspense. Tommy Collins character is relatable. He's got just enough of adventuresome spirit that keeps you turning the page. I would also point out that this book would also appeal to the middle school girls. It shows true heroism in both of the main characters. It also shows us a piece of history during WWII that actually could have happened! A delightful gift to add to our library. Thank you for choosing us!

Lee Ann Hamilton
Librarian for Augustine School… (mere)

This book is labeled in the YA/teen reading level but is about a 12/13 year old, and he feels even younger than that closer to a 10/11 age boy so that feel was a bit awkward. The binding on this book is incredibly disappointing I was only halfway through and the pages just started falling out. I was previewing this book for my son but have decided to not let him read it. The writing is marginal, the plot a bit unbelievable. There are far better books out there about this time period to use your time reading. The boy did some very dangerous things and in return Eisenhour himself thanks him and shakes his hand, during the invasion of France to. The father talks to the boy about doing the right thing but also knowing how and when to go about it, but there is zero follow through on this important point. I found the women in this book rather degrading, the mom makes fun of traditional women, the girl is constantly and for no reason throwing "you didn't think a girl could" in the boys face, and his sister is rude. The sibling relationship is contentious and a sad example. The important part of fleeing Jews is also completely overlooked. I think this book could have been improved upon if it was a bit longer, some of the points the author was trying to get at seem to have gotton lost and left unexplained. For a book targeted to teens and preteens the lack of detail and short length feel like something meant more for grade schoolers, yet the inclusion of swear words and the other things I have mentioned renders it not appropriate for that level.… (mere)

Tommy is a typical British boy in the WWII era. He follows news of the war closely, tries to talk his military father into sharing a few well-kept secrets, and keeps an eye out for spies and Nazis at all times. After getting into a scrape at school, he gets to travel with his father to Southampton in the days before the Battle of Normandy. There he gets to see first-hand the upheaval war causes by exploring bombed out ruins and meeting refugees. This leads him to an adventure where his bravery and patriotism is put to the test like never before. This story is a great family read, appropriate for tweens on up!… (mere)

A Review of She-Wolf
Written by Francis Moss

This was a well-written story which I really enjoyed despite it moving faster than I would have liked. The book is about Deborah Sokolov, a young Ukrainian girl living in New York City who’s family has ties to the Ukrainian crimeworld. Despite this, she leads the typical life of any teen, until one day her grandparents, with whom she lives, are killed. Though the crime is quickly solved, there are too many questions left unanswered and Deborah begins to search for those answers. In doing so, she discovers that her beloved grandparents were not victims of some random crime, but were executed by people within the very crime family they served. Deborah wants revenge.

Overall, the book kept my attention and I was rooting for Deborah all along. The author, Francis Moss, does a good job of making the reader sympathetic to the main character. I only have two major complaints about the book and the first one is not necessarily the fault of the author but may have been the marketing people. You see, the book is titled She-Wolf and has a tagline that says “She doesn’t hide. She hunts.” Well this gave me the initial feeling that the book would be about a character who is either already trained in the ways of an assassin or learns them. Without giving much away, neither of those scenarios is the case. While disappointing, the actual story is still very good. My other complaint is that while the book allows you to get to know Deborah, it rushes the story building in many other areas. Not enough to make me not want to read it, but enough to feel like something was missing.

Don’t get me wrong, the book is still very good and is a satisfying read! So please, go get yourself a copy and read it!

… (mere)