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© 2008 Teresa Funke
Featured BooksTeresa Funke's books are published by Bailiwick Press |
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Coming This Summer: A new Home-Front Hero
Fourteen-year-old Tai Shimoda's family has lost everything. Like many other Japanese-Americans at the start of World War II, Tai's family has been forced to move to Tule Lake Relocation Center in Northern California. Though he misses his friends back home, Tai does his best to start a new life behind the barbed wire of camp. But in the spring of 1943, tensions at Tule Lake are growing. Tai's older brother has joined a group who has refused to swear allegiance to the United States. They call themselves the No-Nos. Tai's father calls them Disloyals. When the camp begins to split in two, Tai must decide what he believes. Will he join his beloved brother and the No-Nos or, like his father, remain true to America?
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Dancing in Combat BootsBased on a true story . . . When the going got tough during World War II, America's women got going. By the millions, they stepped into factories, offices, hospitals—anywhere capable hands were needed. The eleven fictional stories in this remarkable collection are based on real women whose experiences were at once typical and extraordinary. |
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Doing My Part
For children! Until World War II came along, fourteen-year-old Helen Marshall's biggest problem had been her height. Few men in Hayden's Valley, Illinois are as tall as Helen. But when Helen's mother is injured and her favorite cousin ships off to fight, Helen must find a way to support both her family and her country.
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Remember WakeWINNER of a 2003 EVVY Award for Historical Fiction. Based on a true story . . . December, 1941. While the world focuses on the carnage at Pearl Harbor, tiny Wake Island 2,300 miles west is also under attack. On it are 1,200 civilians and a small detachment of Marines. This frightened, under-equipped band of Americans will hold the mighty Japanese navy at bay for sixteen days before succumbing to a sweeping invasion. "Remember Wake" becomes a battle cry for a nation marching to war. |
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March EVVY Awards
Dancing in Combat Boots was the winner of a 2007 EVVY award for fiction.Doing My Part was the winner of a 2007 EVVY award for children’s books.
Dancing in Combat Boots won an EVVY for Cover design.
Friday Night Write Series
Join Teresa the second Friday night of each month at La Dolce Vita Coffee Shop for writing workshops and discussions. For more information visit Events. See you there.Send me your WWII stories
Saving World War II stories is a passion of mine, but I need your help. Please send me your World War II stories or stories about a family member and I'll post them on my website. Please limit your stories to fewer than 250 words and use appropriate language. For more information on how to submit your story, visit the Reader Stories page. Enjoy this featured story:Jack Duncan
dryfrog@npgcable.com
Category: Military Service
I was either about to graduate – or maybe I was waiting to ship out – from the Motor Torpedo Boats Squadrons Training Center in Melville, R.I. when for reasons long forgotten, I decided to go visit my ex-brother-in-law down in Brooklyn. This was in 1943. He was in the twilight years of a long career in professional baseball. You may have heard of Frenchy Bordagaray.
Frenchy was playing for the Dodgers in a home game at Ebbets Field and one of the skippers of a new PT boat said I could ride down with them to the Brooklyn Navy yard as they headed for the South Pacific.
As the boat was in the East River approaching Brooklyn, someone told me to take the wheel. Could a teenaged torpedoman third class resist? Did I feel proud driving that "80-feet of fighting fury" with all the girls lined up on the banks waving at the crew lined up at the rail?
But I had to steer around all the flotsam and jetsam in the water so I couldn’t look at the girls – I'd been snookered!
We docked and I went over to Ebbets Field to meet Frenchy, who escorted me into the club house and then let me watch the game from the dugout. In the stands right above the dugout was a guy to whom Frenchy introduced me. He was the "Big Gun." Babe Ruth himself!
So, when I returned to Melville by train, do you think the guys believed me?
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