Hobie is "the man of the house" while his father is flying bombing missions during WWII. Emotions are running high, and fifth grade boys find any reason to give each other a hard time. New kid Max Klein is accosted for being German, and Hobie is goaded into being more patriotic and less wimpy by giving up his beloved dog, Duke, to Dogs for Defense. Duke is sent to California and trained with Marine Marv. Hobie thought that his dog would stay stateside and come back to him, but when the boys in his class intimate that Duke will probably see combat, Hobie tries to convince the Marines to send Duke back, especially when Hobie's young sister has trouble with the separation. When Hobie's father is captured by the Germans, things become even more difficult for the family, and Hobie regrets sending Duke. He and Max strike up an uneasy friendship when they find an abandoned dog, which becomes harder when Max sends the dog to Dogs for Defense as well. In the end, everything works out for the best.
Strengths: Larson is an excellent writer, and I do love her books, but my students have to be persuaded to read things likel The Friendship Doll or Hattie Big Sky. Duke, while about the home front, has many things to recommend it. Lots of details about what life was like, and the added interest of the dog. I'd still rather this be about Duke's experiences over seas-- readers will have to turn to the C. Alexander London Dog Tags series for that.
Weaknesses: Anybody else REALLY bothered by the main character's name? Jamie Gilson has a whole series of books that include Hobie Hanson, You're Weird. It distracted me unnecessarily! Also, it doesn't seem very realistic that everything works out so neatly at the end, but it was probably too sad to have Duke die or be left.