Shirley Spires Baechtold

I'll Be Looking at the Moon Shirley Spires Baechtold

In 1943, twelve year-old Maggie Beeler is determined to play a greater role in the war effort, and she is not above using her manipulative skills to make her schemes work. Maggie is instrumental in getting a church canteen started and, despite her mother's distrust of soldiers, she and her sister Annabel are allowed to help out. But the canteen doesn't draw many soldiers, and Maggie feels that her efforts to make a difference have failed.


While the war has brought significant changes to the small Kentucky town where the Beeler family lives, Maggie sees other changes that need to be made. In her world, racism is not a familiar concept, but she recognizes unfairness when she sees African Americans standing in the rain to buy tickets to a movie. When her German grandfather is accused of being a spy because he speaks with an accent, Maggie looks for a way to protest discrimination.


In her spirited desire to help her country and her hometown, Maggie is a modern and engaging heroine.


With an informative introduction and discussion questions, I'll Be Looking at the Moon



About the Author


Shirley Spires Baechtold is retired from the English Department at Eastern Kentucky University, where she taught courses in composition, world literature, vocabulary studies and study skills. She has published essays, academic articles in juried journals, and columns in a large regional newspaper. She is currently working on a second edition of her memoir, The Unqualified Widow - Love, Loss, and Basketball, and a sequel to I'll Be Looking at the Moon.