Grace Banker and her Hello Girls Answer the Call by Claudia Friddell and Elizabeth Baddeley - ADVISABLE

Grace Banker and her Hello Girls Answer the Call: The Heroic Story of WWI Telephone Operators by Claudia Friddell, illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley. NON-FICTION PICTURE BOOK. Calkins Creek (Boyds Mill), 2021. $19. 978168437505 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS, HS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

In 1917, Grace Baker saw that America’s armed forces needed switchboard operators to join the troops overseas and keep communication flowing. Grace applied, trained, and headed to the front with her group of 33 charges. Through adverse conditions, including a fire, they managed to keep the information flowing. 

I loved this, but I especially love that the ship the women boarded was a dazzle ship! I’m not how useful this would be in an elementary school – in fact, I don’t know where WWI is covered, but even so, any conversation about women, women in war, technology advances, can use this in the collection. There are videos of switch board operators on youtube.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS