Dream When You're Feeling Blue ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 2007

I've read several books by Elizabeth Berg, though only one other since I've been reviewing books here on my blog:  The Pull of the Moon (1996).  My favorite of Berg's books is still Talk Before Sleep (1994). 

Dream When You're Feeling Blue (2007) is not one of my favorites, though it did help me understand what it was like to have a loved one fighting in World War Two.  The overall mood seemed to be boredom, which is also the feeling I had while reading over and over and over that the three sisters -- Kitty and Louise and Tish -- sat down every night to write to their men.

Before I'd read twenty pages, I was reminded of two other books.  This quote (from page 10) made me think of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (1943):

"Louise needed to stop thinking about herself.  She could think about her job as teacher's aide, or her friends, or their three little brothers, only eight, eleven, and thirteen but out almost every day with their wagon, collecting for the metal drive.  They got a penny a pound, and they'd raised more money for war bonds than any other kids in their Chicago neighborhood -- they'd even had their pictures in the newspaper."

Edward R. Murrow

The children in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn also collected scrap metal.  This quote (from page 19) reminded me of Frankie Bard, a character in The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (2010), who worked with Murrow:

"She [Margaret] went into the parlor to sit with her husband and listen to the radio.  Edward R. Murrow was a must for both of them."

I finished the book, so I guess I'll rate it 6/10, above average.