The Enemy: A Book About Peace

Author: Davide Cali

Illustrator: Serge Bloch

Peach’s Picks Rating:

Year of publication: 2009

City of publication: New York

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books

ISBN: 9780375845000

Author website: http://www.davidecali.com/

Illustrator website: http://www.sergebloch.net/

Media used for illustrations: Rendered in China ink on paper and photography

Annotation: Two soldiers hide in foxholes facing one another. Each ponders his fate, feeling they have nothing in common and believing they should hate and kill the other.

Personal reaction to the book: This is a powerful thought-provoking anti-war story that will encourage discussion when read aloud. Two enemy soldiers sit lonely vigils in small foxholes facing one another. One soldier speaks to the reader through his thoughts, pondering his situation, wondering if his enemy is really a wild beast who will “kill our families and our pets, burn down our forests, even poison our water (page 14).” The soldiers believe they are enemies but have shared experiences; loneliness, fear, anxiety, rain, darkness, longing for family, longing for the end of war. In a surprising twist, the two soldiers come to realize they are not enemies. Rather, they are humans who have families, dreams, and hopes. The front endpapers begin the story showing seven horizontal repeating lines of soldiers. All soldiers are the same with the exception of one soldier who has a four-leaf clover in his mouth. The story concludes on the back endpapers showing seven horizontal repeating lines of soldiers; a solider is missing from line two and line six leaving the reader to conclude that the two enemies turned their backs on war and went home. Between endpapers the story is told in short powerful text and illustrated with straightforward cartoon-like pictures conveying emotion. The book has a unique layout with six pages of story before the publisher’s information and title page appear. The drawings are reminiscent of World War I soldiers, but the theme is timeless and universal. This book will surely draw a strong response from readers. This book is perfectly matched with Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam by Walter Dean Myers. The book reads aloud well and is easily viewed by a group of students.

General curricular connections:

• War
• Peace
• Use with Amnesty International clubs
•             Use with Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam by Walter Dean Myers

Recommended grade levels:

School Library Journal recommends the book for grades 5 and up

Booklist recommends the book for grades 2-4

Peach’s Picks recommends the book for grades 4 and up

Awards/Recognitions:
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2010
School Library Journal starred review

Notes: This book was selected from "The Top Ten Favorites List / Summer Session 2009", San Jose State University, School of Library and Information Science, LIBR 271A, Genres & Topics in Youth Literature, Professor Partington.

Metaphor: Page 13; “He is a wild beast.”

Metaphor: Page 14; the enemy is shown with a devil’s tail

Metaphor: Page 25; one soldier creeping across the page believes the other soldier creeping across the page to be a lion

Metaphor: Back endpapers: Two soldiers are missing from the horizontal lines of soldiers; the two soldiers in the story have left the war

Book cover picture retrieved from: http://www.randomhouse.com/author/80268/davide-cali